The Experiment Tournament
by Tortured Artist
Summary: Before 626, Jumba organized a yearly event where chosen experiments battled each other for the winning trophy. The powerful experiments entering the contest are intimidating but that won’t stop one determined experiment wanting to prove his worth.
1. The City of Alyzaum

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 1: The City of Alyzaum

Author's Note: This story contains many experiments from the show as well as experiments I've made up myself. Although all the experiments have names, they will be referred to by number because this story takes place before the creation of Stitch. Also, all alien languages are translated into English so don't be surprised to see every experiment in the story speaking English.

Not so long ago, near a star far from Earth, there was a planet located in the Delta Quadrant of the galaxy. This lowly planet is known as Beta-Qaun, a planet inhabited by a race of beings who are famous for being lowly scoundrels. Their race is naturally malevolent at best, driven by greed and an obsession to obtain personal power. Although they're not the worst race the United Galactic Federation has seen, they are still unlawful and ever since Beta-Qaun was admitted as part of the UGF, they've been heavily watched over by the police force. But what the UGF is really worried about is the races' interest in meddling with nature. Whether it was genetics, chemicals, or machines, scientists of Beta-Qaun have always had a habit of focusing their attention on illegal sciences such as making weapons of mass destruction, creating mutants, or performing dangerous medical practices but even the most hated creeps of Beta-Qaun is no match for one evil genius who had taken the science of mutations to a whole new level. However, this man would be hard to find on Beta-Qaun because the most clever, the most dangerous, and the most intelligent evil genius Beta-Qaun has ever seen…is not on Beta-Qaun.

Instead, he is in his lab which is located on an asteroid which orbits in the asteroid belt located in the solar system where Beta-Qaun is located. Here on this asteroid, far from the eyes of Beta-Qaun and its police force, a secret lab was constructed and maintained by possibly the most ingenious scientist Beta-Qaun, and possibly the whole galaxy, has ever seen. His name is none other than Dr. Jumba Jookiba. A man who dedicated his life to the creation of illegal mutations and creatures designed to cause massive destruction, even on a world-wide scale. His lab was built on the surface of the asteroid with a large glass dome located around it to protect its inhabitants from the vacuum of space. The lab was large in size, covering as much space as a small mansion. The large lab not only served as Jumba's place to build his experiments but it also functioned as his home, safe from the watchful eyes of the UGF. It is here where Jumba works on, studies, and creates his creations and even right now, he's busy hard at work with his latest creation.

Inside his lab, Jumba was holding a clipboard as he read the results of a test he had preformed on his latest experiment. The experiment casually laid upon the examination table as Jumba went through the results of the tests he had the experiment perform. Jumba examined the list of test results with disappointment. He had so much high hopes for this experiment yet it had let him down.

"I can't be believing it," said Jumba. "You are intended to have great physical power and be the most powerful experiment I've ever made. You possess more powers than any other experiment. You are super strong, possesses super senses, you are super smart, and extremely dexterous yet you're squandering all that by doing nothing but sit around and eat sandwiches all day. Are you listening to me, 6-2-5?" Experiment 6-2-5 sat on the table, scarfing down a sandwich that was so long that if it was turned it to its side, it would have been taller than he was. After swallowing a bite, he said bluntly, "Yeah, I hear you."

"Well, you are certainly not acting like it," said Jumba. "You are one of the most laziest experiments I've ever seen."

"Eh, what are you going to do?" said 6-2-5 as if he couldn't care less. In frustration, Jumba slapped his fat hand to his forehead and said, "I'm wasting my time, I might as well give up on you and just begin work on Experiment 6-2-6."

"Yeah, why don't you do that," said 6-2-5 as he took another bite into his huge sandwich.

"I just wish there was someway you could still be useful," said Jumba. He placed a finger to his lips as he thought to himself.

Suddenly, a grin crossed his face as an idea occurred to him.

"Maybe there is a way you can be useful," said Jumba.

"What are you talking about?" asked 6-2-5.

"6-2-5, how would you like to be the announcer of this year's Experiment Tournament?" asked Jumba.

"Experiment Tournament?" asked 6-2-5. "What's an Experiment Tournament?"

"You don't know about the Experiment Tournament?" asked Jumba.

"Nope," answered 6-2-5. Jumba soon smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand as he suddenly remembered.

"That's right, I forgot, you're only three weeks old," said Jumba. "I guess I should be explaining to you. You see, every year, I host an event called 'The Experiment Tournament.' The way how it works is thirty-two experiments will compete in five rounds of one on one combat. Each experiment will randomly be chosen an opponent to fight and the winners of the fights are past on to the next round while the losers are out of the tournament. The last remaining experiment standing after the fifth round is the winner."

"Why would you set up something like that?" asked 6-2-5.

"When I started to create experiments that were capable of combat, I began to wonder if there was someway of finding out how their powers and abilities were progressing," explained Jumba. "I knew that the best way to find out how well the experiments were progressing in their combat skills was to watch them fight real opponents instead of simulations or robots. I came up with the idea of the tournament in order to learn more about the fighting abilities of my experiments and based on the data I collect, I can integrate the skills used in the tournament into my future experiments. Not to mention the tournament is the most popular event amongst the experiments. It also serves as entertainment for them since they don't get much excitement."

6-2-5 sat there, eating his sandwich, thinking about what Jumba said.

"So, are you asking me to be in the tournament?" asked 6-2-5.

"Oh no, I need you to be the sports presenter of the tournament," said Jumba. "Last year, I had hired experiment 1-9-9, a snooping experiment who did well as an announcer but he kept blabbing secrets over the speakers, particularly a few about me. I was so mad at him that I had him dehydrated. Now that he's been unemployed, I need someone with advanced language programming to replace him. You have a good voice and you have advanced language programming which makes you a perfect candidate for the job and it's not that hard. Your job would be to announce to the audience what is going on during the fights, inform them of who's fighting, and give statistics. You don't need to fight, you just have to watch and talk in the comfort of an announcer's booth." 6-2-5 thought about the job offer as he finished the last bite of his sandwich.

"You know, that sounds like fun," said 6-2-5 after swallowing. "Can I still make sandwiches up there?"

"You can bring food up there just so long as you don't get food all over the equipment or try to eat while you're supposed to be working," said Jumba.

"Okay, Jumba, you've got yourself a deal," said 6-2-5

"Great, show up here tomorrow so I can explain to you how the job works," said Jumba.

"Okay, see you tomorrow," said 6-2-5 as he stepped off of the examination table and approached the exit to the room.

"Oh 6-2-5," said Jumba, stopping him. "I have one more favor for you to do." Jumba opened up a large file cabinet and then pulled out a pile of orange colored sheets of paper. He then shoved the paper into 6-2-5's arms. 6-2-5 examined the papers he was holding and discovered that they were flyers advertising the Experiment Tournament. "I need you to go into town and hang these flyers on all the message boards in town." Jumba pulled out a small plastic box from his lab coat and placed them on top of the pile of papers. "Here's some thumb tacks for you to hang the papers with. Can I trust you with this task?"

"Sure thing, I'll get on it right now," said 6-2-5. With all those flyers in his arms, he then exited the lab.

With a chore assigned to him, 6-2-5 wondered through the long white hallways of Jumba's lab until he found the exit to Jumba's home. Pushing the large double doors open, 6-2-5 found himself inside the large glass dome that houses Jumba's home. His toenails lightly "tapped" along the metal floor of the glass dome as 6-2-5 made his way towards the glass tunnel that led out of Jumba's dome. The metal doors to the tunnel opened wide automatically as 6-2-5 approached them, allowing 6-2-5 to enter through the tunnel. 6-2-5 walked through the glass tunnel which led to an even larger glass dome than the one surrounding Jumba's home. The doors on the other end of the tunnel opened as he approached them, allowing 6-2-5 to set foot into the second dome which housed the city of Alyzaum, the city for the experiments.

No one, not even the experiments who live there, knows where Alyzaum came from. Some say that Jumba had spent years building the entire city by hand. Others say that the city was abandoned years ago and Jumba had it improved and rebuilt so he could house his huge collection of genetic mutations. Whatever the true story may be, what is known is that Alyzaum is a city inhabited by the experiments that Jumba created. Each experiment lives peacefully in this environment built specially for them, living out their lives under the watchful eyes of Jumba Jookiba. The only passageway between the glass dome that housed Jumba's home and the dome that housed Alyzaum was a tunnel that led 6-2-5 into Alyzaum's city park.

The city park was a vast land filled with natural beauty, the only place in Alyzaum where you can find nature. There were fields of purple colored grass (grass native to Beta-Quan) as well as tall trees with blue leaves. There were concrete sidewalks to walk on as well as park benches to eat on and small ponds to swim in. 6-2-5 walked through the city park, carrying the pile of papers in his arms. He walked through the park until he finally reached a bus stop sign with a large blue bench next to it. 6-2-5 sat down onto the bench and waited for a bus to arrive. Since very few experiments possess vehicles or know how to drive them, the most common form of transportation was the crosstown buses that ran by through the city. They were free to the experiments and it was the fastest way of getting through the city, except for those experiments who were born with other ways of traveling.

6-2-5 began to feel very hot as he sat there on that bench under the hot sun overhead. The sun that orbits around the asteroid is not really a sun. It is actually Experiment 5-0-6. Awhile back, Jumba invented an experiment named Experiment 5-0-5. 5-0-5 was a female experiment which resembled experiment 6-2-4 except she had white fur and a light gray colored nose. She also had a white aura around her body. Experiment 5-0-5 was given the power to change into a small moon, which resembles the Earth's moon, and she even glows like the Earth's moon. While she's in her moon form, she can fly up into the sky and then shroud an area in perpetual night, blocking out all forms of sun light. Once she had been created, 5-0-5 immediately changed into a moon and then hovered over Alyzaum.

It wasn't long before Jumba made Experiment 5-0-6 which resembles 6-2-5 except he's not as fat, he's more muscular looking, and he has a yellow aura around his body. 5-0-6 operates the same way as 5-0-5 except he turns into a small sun that puts an area in perpetual day. Once 5-0-6 was created, he immediately flew up into the air and then fought with 5-0-5 for dominance. The two wanted to hover over Alyzaum so they could use their powers on the city but neither one of them was more powerful than the other. Realizing the conflict, Jumba arranged a compromise. The two experiment would orbit around the asteroid, taking turns shedding their sunlight or moonlight over Alyzaum. 5-0-5 and 5-0-6 agreed and now the two orbit the asteroid, allowing its inhabitants to have actual sun and moonlight. Little does 5-0-5 and 5-0-6 know that when they meet Lilo in the future, she will give them the names Diana (for 5-0-5) and Apollo (for 5-0-6).

6-2-5 sat on that bench until a large bus was seen riding along the street. The bus was a double-decker bus, like the ones in London, except it was blue in color and it hovered off the ground instead of rolling on wheels. The large bus pulled over to the side of the curb, allowing 6-2-5 to step on board the bus. As he got onto the bus, he caught sight of the driver which was a small robot. The robot was humanoid in shape to the point it looked almost like C-3PO except it was smaller and its head was more oval and flat in shape. It had a wide black rectangle window on its face where a red laser light could be seen scanning through the black glass. It had a small rectangle mouth which said, "Come on aboard, sir," in a voice that sounded computer generated. 6-2-5 nervously stepped onto the bus, eyeing the robot's scanning laser from behind its eye. 6-2-5 wandered through the bus, realizing, to his dismay, that every seat on the first floor of the bus was occupied by an experiment.

The seats of the bus were filled with experiments of all shapes and sizes and many of them just stared at 6-2-5 as he wandered to the ladder in the back of the bus so he could climb to the second floor. 6-2-5 climbed up the ladder, being careful not to drop the flyers he was holding, until he reached the top floor. There, he discovered that the seats on the second floor were vacant save for one experiment who sat in the corner. Through the windows of the bus, 6-2-5 could see the background moving as the bus drove along the streets. Fighting the inertia caused by the bus's movements, 6-2-5 took a seat next to a window and watched the world go by.

The city park was the most vacant and quietest place in Alyzaum but the rest of the city was not as quiet. Like any city, it was filled with activity as experiments went about their daily lives. Although it doesn't look like it at first glance, Alyzaum is more than just some holding area for the experiments. Alyzaum is a real city with everything one would find in a city such as tall buildings, shopping malls, restaurants, movie theaters, and apartment buildings for housing the experiments. From the second floor of the double-decker bus, 6-2-5 could visibly see the buildings all around him and the crowds of experiments who wondered the sidewalk of the roads. As soon as the bus entered the town, 6-2-5 pulled onto the plastic cord hanging along the walls of the bus, signaling that he wanted to get off at the next stop. The bus pulled over to the side of the road and 6-2-5 set out to hang the flyers.

6-2-5 spent almost two hours wondering the streets of Alyzaum to hang the flyers. The number of message boards in Alyzaum was larger than 6-2-5 had anticipated. He had to walk through every restaurant, shop, and theater, hanging all the flyers Jumba had given him. After going through the entire city nonstop, 6-2-5 found himself exhausted and hungry. With only five flyers and a few thumbtacks remaining, 6-2-5 decided to take a break and sat on a bus stop bench located at the far end of the city, out of breath and sweating. 5-0-6's rays of sunlight beamed down upon 6-2-5, making 6-2-5 look more red in the face and sweating more heavily. As he sat there on the bench, he heard his stomach growling angrily in protest as it demanded food. Looking to his left and right for something to eat, 6-2-5 noticed a restaurant nearby. The building was large and tall with a flat roof and large glass windows that revealed the experiments who had gathered around in there for lunch.

"I guess I've earned myself some lunch," said 6-2-5 as he got himself back onto his tired feet and then walked towards the restaurant.

The restaurant was a fast-food restaurant which looked like a large school cafeteria with rows upon rows of plastic and metal benches that were lined together to allow the experiments to sit down and eat. Like a school cafeteria. 6-2-5 had to wait in line with a large plastic tray in his hands before being served. Once he was finally close enough to reach the line of food options, 6-2-5 gathered every condiment and topping he could find to make two baloney submarine sandwiches plus a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Since he didn't have to pay for his food, 6-2-5 quickly left the line and he was on his way to find a place to sit. As he searched through the crowded benches to find a seat, he noticed a message board nearby.

"Oh, I better get that one," said 6-2-5. He walked over to the message board and hastily hung a flyer onto it using his remaining thumbtacks. With the flyer secured, 6-2-5 continued his search for a seat.

Shortly after the flyer was hung, an experiment, carrying a tray with a cheese burger and a soda on it, walked past the message board and the flyer recently posted on it caught his attention. The experiment stopped in his tracks as he stared at the flyer, reading the information written on it. The experiment resembled Stitch but he had dark green fur instead of blue fur. The experiment has extra arms, quills, and antennas, all of which he hidden underneath his skin. He had silver colored nails which gleamed in the light of the restaurant. The experiment who stared transfixed upon the flyer was Experiment 4-0-5. As 4-0-5 stared at the flyer, he felt depressed, knowing that with the tournament just around the corner, 4-0-5 would once again be left behind in the celebration.

"Are you planning on getting rejected from the Experiment Tournament again?" asked a rude voice from behind 4-0-5. 4-0-5 reluctantly turned around to face the speaker only to discover that the voice came from Experiment 3-4-9, a.k.a Bonnie. Accompanying her was partner 3-5-0 (Clyde), 0-3-2 (Fibber), and 2-2-8 (Melty). The four experiments were evilly laughing at 3-4-9's bad joke in a taunting fashion. 4-0-5 growled in anger which was his only response.

"Oh, is someone angry?" asked 3-5-0 sarcastically as he raised his robotic hand to his chin in a parody of someone thinking.

"Will you guys leave me alone," ordered 4-0-5 angrily.

"Or what are you going to do about?" asked 2-2-8 mockingly. "Magnetize me to the wall." 3-4-9 and 3-5-0 laughed.

"You guys better stop that because I can use my powers to turn 3-5-0's robotic arm against him," threatened 4-0-5 but his bluff was exposed by 0-3-2 who buzzed loudly in response to 4-0-5's lie.

"Oh, the lie detector says otherwise," said 3-4-9. "You might as well forget about it because Jumba would never let you in the Experiment Tournament because you're powers don't work, unlike ours." With that hurtful remark, the experiments left, giving 4-0-5 a cold shoulder. Angrily, 4-0-5 marched towards the nearby table and got a seat next to 6-2-5 who gleefully devoured his sandwich. 4-0-5 got into a seat but he didn't immediately begin eating his lunch. He just sat there staring angrily into space, thinking about what the other experiments said about him. All his life, 4-0-5 has been treated like an inferior. No one ever gave him a chance, not even Jumba. He was repeatedly picked on and was tormented by the lack of faith the other experiments had for him. 4-0-5 had to endure all this abuse, just because he was a failed experiment.

At the time of 4-0-5's creation, Jumba had been doing experimentation on a recently invented form of magnetic energy called "Distempered Magnetism." Distempered magnetism is a form of powerful magnetic energy that has been able to cause great damage and destruction. Distempered magnetism has the power to distemper other weaker energies, disrupt magnets, block radio signals, and distort the electromagnetic spectrum itself. Not only that but distempered magnetism can also disrupt computers and metallic machines. With this kind of power, a person could disable any kind of mechanical machine and even control them telepathically at a limited level.

Jumba saw great potential in the power of distempered magnetism so he set out to find a way to give an experiment this power. After hours of extensive research, Jumba created Experiment 4-0-5, an experiment with the power to use distempered magnetism to disrupt radio signals and mechanical machines. Infact, his magnetic powers will earn him the name Magno when he meets Lilo in the future.

Unfortunately, 4-0-5's powers didn't work as well as Jumba had hoped for. There was a miscalculation when Jumba was formulating 4-0-5's powers. Apparently, distempered magnetism can be generated affectively through metal but not through something that's made of living flesh and bone like Jumba had designed 4-0-5. Because of 4-0-5's poor design, 4-0-5's magnetic energies don't work as well as it should have. 4-0-5 has the power to generate a field of distempered magnetism or he could generate it into a semisolid ball that could temporarily surround any target struck by it but the problem is, the magnetic energies are not as strong. The distempered magnetic field that 4-0-5 creates is very weak and functions at a more limited level than was originally planned. The magnetic energies were so weak, they had absolutely no affect on radio signals or solid machines. Jumba tried the best he could to improve 4-0-5's powers but there was nothing he could do after 4-0-5 was born. 4-0-5 was labeled as a failed experiment.

As if having such weak powers was not enough, 4-0-5 had to suffer for it because failed experiments were not accepted within the community. Many experiments often picked on failed experiments and treated them as inferior. For example, there was one experiment named 3-4-4 who was a replicating experiment (also known as Dupe). However, there was a flaw in his design which caused him to divide the strengths of the original to its copies. Because of this flaw, he was labeled as a failed experiment and was rejected by the other experiments as a social outcast. Even to this day, 3-4-4 rarely leaves his home.

4-0-5 had to endure the same abuse as 3-4-4 which made 4-0-5 mad at the injustice of it all. True, he was a failed experiment but he was capable of so many other things. In addition to his faulty magnetic powers, he also has the power of cat-like agility, enabling him to be very fast and dexterous so he could more affectively approach his targets. He also has razor sharp claws on all four of his hands so he could fight off opponents who are unaffected by the distempered magnetism. These claws can extend to over five inches and the metal used to create the claws could cut through solid lead like a hot knife through butter. But despite all these abilities, he is still put down and ignored. This fact became more evident when he tried to enter the Experiment Tournament two years ago. Although it wasn't against the rules to have failed experiments in the tournament, none-the-less Jumba never allowed failed experiments into the tournament. 4-0-5 wasn't even aloud to participate in the entry test. 4-0-5 tried to enter the next year afterwards but he was once again rejected. 4-0-5's anger rose as he thought about how unfairly he's been treated. He has just as much potential as any of Jumba's experiments and all he ever wanted was a chance to prove it.

As 4-0-5 sat there staring into space, a familiar experiment sat down into the seat in front of 4-0-5. This experiment was a female experiment who had a similar female body to 6-2-4's. What made this experiment different from 6-2-4 was that she had shorter antenna that hung only as far as her shoulders and her fur was lavender in color. This experiment was 4-0-5's only friend and her number was 5-6-4

5-6-4 was the only experiment who could be classified as a "friend" to 4-0-5 because she's the only one who respects him for who he is and is willing to be around him. Naturally, 5-6-4 liked to eat her meals with either the other female experiments or 4-0-5 but in this case, she decided she would rather be with 4-0-5. Carrying a tray with a tuna sandwich and a carton of milk on top, 5-6-4 sat down in front of 4-0-5 but he didn't greet her like he usually did. Concerned, 5-6-4 asked, "What's wrong? You look down." 4-0-5's only response to her question was a quick glance at her face before returning his attention back to his uneaten hamburger. 4-0-5 wasn't in the mood to talk about it. When 5-6-4 didn't get a response from 4-0-5, she smiled and said, "You're upset because the Experiment Tournament is coming, aren't you?" 4-0-5 looked up at her in surprise and asked, "How did you know?"

"You just looked into my eyes just now," said 5-6-4. 4-0-5 suddenly remembered that he had just looked at her a second ago and remembering what he was thinking at the time, 4-0-5 mentally kicked himself for being so careless. 5-6-4 smiled as she realized that 4-0-5 had carelessly given himself away to her.

"You should know by now that you can't keep secrets from me," said 5-6-4.

"It is hard to keep secrets when your best friend is a telepath," said 4-0-5 with a smile.

5-6-4's primary function is telepathy which enables her to do one of three things: One is she can communicate with anyone telepathically rather than speak it out loud. Two is she can read minds which is how she found out about what was bothering 4-0-5. Sometimes, she can hear what others are currently thinking just by looking at them but her mind reading powers are limited that way. But, if 5-6-4 could actually make eye contact, she could pry even farther into the mind and uncover information directly from the brain. 5-6-4's third ability is to control people's minds like a puppet. This power can only be accomplished if 5-6-4 makes eye contact with her target. It is these three telepathic abilities that will one day earn her the name Telepatha when she ends up on Kauai with all the other experiments.

Knowing that 5-6-4 would want to know more, 4-0-5 reluctantly began to explain while keeping his eyes on his uneaten burger.

"Every year I try to enter the tournament and ever year I'm left out," said 4-0-5. "No one believes I can fight just because my magnetic powers don't work. It's so unfair. I'm capable of so many things yet they judge me because of that one aspect of my powers."

"I know how you feel," said 5-6-4 after swallowing a bite of her sandwich.

"How could you know how I feel?" said 4-0-5 as he faced her. "I mean, you're one of Jumba's perfect experiment. Even he idolizes you for how well he created your powers. He said it himself that you're the most powerful telepath he's ever invented."

"I may not be a failed experiment but I can experience your pain every time I look into your eyes," said 5-6-4 with a grin before taking another bite out of her sandwich. Remembering her mind reading powers, 4-0-5 immediately averted his eyes from her.

"I just wish I could be in that tournament and show them that I can fight and that I am just as powerful as them," said 4-0-5. "All I want is that chance yet no one, not even my own creator, will give me that chance."

"Don't give up," said 5-6-4 after swallowing another bite of her sandwich. "I'm sure you'll get into the tournament this year. Besides, it will be hard to beat Experiment 5-2-5 if you do get into the tournament." 4-0-5 cringed in anger at the mere sound of that number. Out of all the experiments who picked on 4-0-5, Experiment 5-2-5 was the worsted. 4-0-5 wanted nothing more than to punch that trog in the face. As if on cue, the doors to the restaurant swung open and in stepped Experiment 5-2-5, last year's winner of the Experiment Tournament….


	2. Getting into the Tournament

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 2: Getting into the Tournament

Strutting into the restaurant as if he was a celebrity, Experiment 5-2-5 walked towards a table where a bunch of female experiments were sitting. The girls stared at 5-2-5 as he approached them as if he was the most hansom experiment in the galaxy. He casually walked up to them and said, "Hey ladies, what you've got for lunch for me today?" As if he had total control over them, the girls immediately leaped off of their seats and held up their trays to offer their lunches to him which 5-2-5 accepted generously.

Experiment 5-2-5 has the usual body design common amongst experiments, including clawed hands, two black eyes, a koala nose, and long rabbit-like ears but he didn't have fur, quills, antennas, or extra arms. From the time of his creation, 5-2-5 has always been a show off, impressing all the female experiments with his amazing powers. However, even though he was a just a ham at first, after winning the Experiment Tournament, he has become the entire side of the pig. Ever since he won the Tournament, he's been a star in his own right and has become a hot attraction to the female experiments who inhabits Alyzaum.

The reason why he's such a popular experiment is not just because he won the tournament, it was also because of his power to disassemble himself. 5-2-5's entire body is made up of thousands of small bright red cubes which gives 5-2-5 the same block-like appearance of an old fashioned 16-bit video game character. Each cube is no bigger than half the size of a marble and each of the cubes can separate from each other. When 5-2-5 disassembles himself, all of his small blocks can fly around like a swarm of insects and what's really amazing was that those blocks can reassemble 5-2-5 into different shapes and forms which he uses in combat and to impress the girls. This most extraordinary power has made almost every experiment in Alyzaum completely envious of him. Infact, it is this strange power that will one day earn him the name "Blocks" when he gets captured by Lilo and Stitch.

"Could you transform into a boat for me?" begged one of the girls who crowded around 5-2-5.

"What ever you say," said 5-2-5 and with that, the tiny blocks that made up his shape came apart. The girls cheered as the pieces came apart all at once and remained suspended in the air. The blocks then began to swarm around each other like bees and, like a jigsaw puzzle, the tiny blocks rearranged themselves into the shape of a small ship complete with sails, masts, and tiny block people walking around the deck. Even in this shape, 5-2-5 amazingly had total control over every part of the ship and he even made the sails move as if they were caught in some wind. The female experiments cheered with joy at the amazing display.

Meanwhile, 4-0-5 just stared at 5-2-5 from his seat in disgust.

"What a show off," said 4-0-5 angrily. In a parody of 5-2-5's voice, 4-0-5 said, "Oh look at me, I can take myself apart and take on different shapes. Maybe if I remove some of the blocks that make up my head, it wont be so big." 5-6-4 laughed loudly in response to 4-0-5's joke. 5-2-5 heard 5-6-4's laugh and when he recognized the source of the laugh, he reassembled himself into his original form. He quickly saw 5-6-4 eating her sandwich in front of 4-0-5. Seeing an opportunity, 5-2-5 decided to approach her and to do that, he once again broke himself into pieces and all the little pieces that made up his body flew through the air, over the tables (to the enjoyment of the experiments watching) and then reassembled himself into his original form right next to 5-6-4, startling her.

He leaned over her and in his most charming voice, he said, "Hey babe, how about we go out and have dinner at Jumba's fanciest restaurant in town, The Céleste Farine. I get special privileges for eating there since I'm last year's winner of the Experiment Tournament." As 5-2-5 talked, he avoided eye contact with 5-6-4, knowing that if she refused, she could easily use her mind control powers to force him away from her. Angered that he would disturb her like this, 5-6-4 said, "Go away. I'm not going out with you."

"Come on, every girl here would have begged to come on a date with me yet you're the only one who would say 'no,'" said 5-2-5 as he kept his eyes off of her. "Have dinner with me. You wont regret it."

"I said 'no' and I mean it," said 5-6-4 more loudly.

"Come on, what do you got to lose," said 5-2-5. Watching 5-2-5 harass his best friend was more than 4-0-5 could stand. He climbed up onto the table and said, "She said 'No,' 5-2-5, so leave her along." 5-2-5 seemed surprised to hear 4-0-5 stand up for 5-6-4, as if he hadn't noticed he was there. Undaunted, 5-2-5 just smiled up at 4-0-5 and said, "Or what is a failed experiment like you going to do about it?" With rage beginning to over take him, 4-0-5's metal claws began to extend to their full length.

"4-0-5, I know what you're thinking but don't do it," said 5-6-4 telepathically to 4-0-5. It was a strange experience when 5-6-4 uses her telepathy to communicate. It's like hearing her voice in your head. When 5-6-4 gave him that message, 4-0-5 couldn't tell if she meant literally or just figuratively. Either way, he didn't care at that point.

With his powerful legs, 4-0-5 leaped into the air, sailing clear over 5-2-5's head, and landing perfectly on his feet just a few yards away from 5-2-5. Instead of turning around, 5-2-5 disassembled himself and then reassembled himself in a position facing 4-0-5. The female experiments who were ogling 5-2-5 earlier were cheering at the display of 5-2-5's power. Many eyes were facing the two experiments as word of a fight traveled through the restaurant like a telegram. Everyone fell silent as the two experiments stared each other down in anticipation. 5-6-4 watched helplessly behind 5-2-5, knowing that the fight was not going to end well.

4-0-5 gritted his teeth in anticipation but 5-2-5 only grinned at him slyly.

"Do you really think you can defeat me, the winner of last year's Experiment Tournament?" asked 5-2-5 with a taunting smile. "I've defeated the most powerful experiments Jumba has to offer without breaking a sweat and I doubt a worthless failed experiment could do what the most powerful experiments could not. Why, I bet you can't even hit me." 4-0-5's temper was rising. With his metal claws fully extended, he charged towards 5-2-5. 5-2-5 gave no response to 4-0-5, almost as if he didn't see him charging but 5-6-4 knew what he was up to, even if she didn't use her mind reading powers.

Once 4-0-5 was within slashing range, he swung his blades at full force towards 5-2-5's left arm but before the claws could strike, 5-2-5's arm immediately separated itself from 5-2-5 and 4-0-5's claws sailed harmlessly in-between 5-2-5 and his disembodied arm. In 4-0-5's rage, he had forgotten that 5-2-5's ability to disassemble himself is also a very affective defensive ability. By removing a limb or just falling to pieces, 5-2-5 could easily avoid all sorts of physical attacks. That's why he won last year's tournament, he could fall to pieces faster than anyone could hit him.

5-2-5 reattached his arm and said mockingly, "Is that really all you got?" Angered, 4-0-5 took a swipe at 5-2-5's head but his head immediately detached itself and lifted off his shoulders to avoid the attack. Once 4-0-5's claws were out of the way, 5-2-5 reattached his head. Determined to strike him, 4-0-5 made repeated attacks towards 5-2-5's limbs but each time, 5-2-5 effortlessly avoided the attacks by detaching and then reattaching any body part that was targeted. The experiments in the restaurant watched this display with amazement and all of them were cheering their support to 5-2-5.

Wanting to catch 5-2-5 by surprise, 4-0-5 once again swung towards 5-2-5's right arm and predictably, the arm separated itself from 5-2-5 to avoid the attack. As 4-0-5 swung his claws, at the same time, he thrusted his other arm towards 5-2-5's chest but before the claws could connect, the tiny blocks that made up 5-2-5's body separated, causing 4-0-5's claws to pass harmlessly through a cloud of independently flying blocks. The small blocks then flew over 4-0-5's head and then reassembled themselves into the shape of a large hammer. Before 4-0-5 knew what 5-2-5 had done, the hammer swung towards 4-0-5 and struck him hard in the chest, knocking him off his feet and tossing him into the air where he landed several yards away on the hard tiled floor of the restaurant. Experiments cheered in response as they rooted for 5-2-5.

5-2-5 directed his hammer shaped body to fly towards 4-0-5 in an attempt to smash him like a bug. 4-0-5 saw the attack coming and just at the last minute, he rolled out of the way. The hammer came down upon the tiled floor hard right where 4-0-5 had been previously. Seizing his chance, 4-0-5 swung his clawed hand towards the handle of the hammer but the handle separated in half to avoid the strike and the piece of the handle that came off immediately struck 4-0-5 hard in the nose, knocking him onto his back. 5-2-5 then disassembled himself again and then reassembled the tiny pieces into the shape of a large boulder. Before 4-0-5 could get out of the way, the boulder flew into the air and then landed hard into 4-0-5's chest. The wind was knocked out of 4-0-5's body from the blow and he cried out in pain. The boulder than lifted itself off of 4-0-5 but it only raised into the air by a few feet before crashing down once again onto 4-0-5. 4-0-5 cried out in pain as the sudden pressure from the blow crushed him under its weight.

The boulder immediately separated into pieces and then the pieces flew into the air and reassembled themselves into the shape of 5-2-5's natural form and there stood on the floor right next to 4-0-5. Struggling to get up, 4-0-5 clutched his stomach in pain as he got back into a standing position on shaky legs. 5-2-5 just smiled at 4-0-5 with that same grin he gave him before.

"You see, you are nothing more than a failure," said 5-2-5. "You were born a failure, you'll live as a failure, and you'll die a failure. You have no business fighting against superior experiments so buzz off and leave the tournament to the real winners like me. I'm going to enter the tournament this year and I'm going to win it again like I did last year so I suggest you go, unless you want a severe pounding." The small pieces that made up 5-2-5's body once again separated and in just a matter of seconds, the pieces reassembled themselves into the shape of a hand. Before 4-0-5 could figure out what was going to happen, the hand's index finger placed itself behind its thumb and then 5-2-5 flicked 4-0-5 into the air like a booger. 4-0-5 helplessly sailed through the air and landed onto the table where 5-6-4 sat. The impact of 4-0-5's body hitting the table caused several neighboring trays to rattle from the impact. When he hit the table, he felt himself landing on something warm and sticky. Aching in pain from the impact, 4-0-5 turned over to find out what he had landed in and discovered that he had just landed onto his uneaten cheeseburger. The smashed burger covered 4-0-5's back in squashed meat and condiments that made his back look like a picture that was created by a child with finger paints.

"Are you okay?" asked 5-6-4 but 4-0-5 couldn't hear her over the sound of all the experiments laughing at him. Except for 5-6-4, every experiment in the restaurant who saw what happened was laughing loudly at how 5-2-5 made a fool out of 4-0-5. 4-0-5 blushed in embarrassment in response to his public humiliations. 5-6-4 wanted to help 4-0-5 by wiping the burger off of 4-0-5's back but at that moment, 4-0-5 didn't want help. Angered and embarrassed, 4-0-5 wanted nothing more than to get out of that restaurant. Without a single word to 5-6-4, 4-0-5 ran towards the exit. The sounds of the experiments laughing at his humiliation followed him out the door and into the streets like a horrible dream.

There's no houses in Alyzaum so all the experiments who inhabit the city were given apartments to live in. There were several apartment buildings that were constructed, including some intended for experiments with specific living conditions required such as one apartment building that was built to be partially submerged in water so the aquatic experiments had some place to live. Also, there is an apartment building built underground for subterranean experiments and one located high off the ground for flying experiments. 4-0-5 wasn't assigned to any of these specially designed apartments. He was assigned a room in an apartment building located just on the other side of town, far from Jumba's lab. 4-0-5 had walked all the way to his apartment building on foot and when he got back into his apartment, safe from the taunts and stares of his fellow experiments, 4-0-5 immediately took a shower to remove all the squashed burger bits that were dripping down his back. The meat wasn't so hard to remove but the ketchup and mustard was another story. He spent over thirty minutes, scrubbing his back with a brush in an attempt to remove the sticky condiments. Once he was finally clean, 4-0-5 walked over to his window overlooking the city and that was where he spent is day.

In comparison to Earth's measurement of time, it was now eight o' clock PM and 4-0-5 had not left his position on the windowsill. The only window 4-0-5 had in his apartment was a large glass window in his living room. His apartment was located high above the city, giving him a glorious view of the entire city below. Somehow, overlooking the vast city below was comforting to 4-0-5 and it was the only comfort he had to keep his mind off of what happened back at the restaurant. Knowing that the story about how he made a fool of himself would spread quickly, 4-0-5 didn't want to leave his apartment and face the continuous taunts of the experiments. Instead, 4-0-5 decided to sit in his apartment and just look out at the city. At this time of day, 5-0-6 was beginning to set in the distance and from the other side of the asteroid, 4-0-5 could see 5-0-5 rising up from underneath the horizon to shine her moonlight onto Alyzaum. The night and day of Alyzaum looked little different from one another. Since the asteroid has no atmosphere, the stars were clearly visible, whether it was night or day. Never the less, when night came, 4-0-5 could now clearly see the lights of the city, glowing like a Christmas tree. 4-0-5 smiled, admiring the beauty of the city.

4-0-5's stomach growled loudly with hunger. He had skipped lunch and had now skipped dinner but 4-0-5 ignored his hungry belly, refusing stubbornly to stay in his apartment. His train of thought was broken when he suddenly heard the sound of someone knocking on his front door. From behind the door, 4-0-5 could hear 5-6-4's voice saying, "It's me, can I come in?"

"The door's unlocked," answered 4-0-5. 5-6-4 let herself inside the apartment, carrying a large paper bag in her hand.

"Hey 4-0-5, I just came to see how you were doing," said 5-6-4. "Have you been up here all day?" 4-0-5 nodded his head in response. "Well, I thought so. At the Doglayon Restaurant, they were serving your favorite: pizza with plorginaarian sausage and delgo roots. I brought you a few big slices since I figured you were hungry."

"You read my mind," said 4-0-5, laughing at the irony of the joke and smiling for the first time all day. 4-0-5 stepped off of the windowsill to join 5-6-4 in the kitchen. The kitchen was a part of the living room and it was just a small section of the home with a tiled floor, a refrigerator, and a few cupboards. There was no stoves inside the apartments since the experiments had no need to cook their own food.

Inside the kitchen portion of 4-0-5's home, there was a small round table with two chairs. 5-6-4 placed the paper bag onto the table while 4-0-5 pulled out a plate from the cupboard. The two experiments sat down at the table and 5-6-4 watched as 4-0-5 reached into the paper bag and pulled out a slice of pizza. The pizza was covered in purple colored pieces of meat, yellow colored sauce, melted cheese, and what looked like mutant pieces of broccoli. It may look nasty but 4-0-5 knew it tasted a lot better than it looked. He sank his teeth into a slice and as he pulled a bite from the pizza, a trail of cheese followed. After swallowing, 4-0-5 asked, "So what did the other experiments have to say about the fight I had with 5-2-5?"

"I'm afraid the whole town knows about it," said 5-6-4. "I've been reading the minds of every experiment I've met all day and everyone is thinking about that fight you had."

"Has 5-2-5 been bragging about his victory?" asked 4-0-5 as he swallowed another slice of pizza.

"That son of a trog has been bragging about it all day," said 5-6-4 angrily. 4-0-5 was surprised since 5-6-4 was not to type to swear.

"Don't feel bad about it," said 4-0-5.

"But it's not fare," said 5-6-4. "You were right, 4-0-5, about what you told me at the restaurant. It's not right for you to be treated like this. You deserve to be treated with respect and further more, you deserve to be in that tournament and I'm going to help you get there. You may had to deal with this torment alone before but you've got me now and I'm going to help you get into the tournament, no matter what." 5-6-4 grabbed 4-0-5's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "That's a promise." 4-0-5 smiled. It was moments like these that made him glad he had her for a friend.

The next morning, 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 was riding a bus to the city park. After what happened yesterday, 5-6-4 suggested that they get some fresh air by going to the park together. 4-0-5 was reluctant to go but 5-6-4 has powerful means of persuasion. Knowing that she might use her mind control to force him to go (although he wasn't sure if she would), 4-0-5 went along on the trip anyway. The two sat together on the bottom level of the double-decker bus and as they sat there, 4-0-5 knew that all the experiments on the bus were watching and he could even hear a few whispers and giggles, possibly gossiping about what happened at the restaurant yesterday. 4-0-5 fought to control his temper, not wanting to go berserk on a public bus. The ride lasted only twenty minutes before it stopped in front of the same bench where 6-2-5 had been sitting just yesterday. 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 stepped out of the bus and then 5-6-4 led 4-0-5 into the park by grabbing his hand and dragging him along.

5-6-4 led 4-0-5 along the concrete path, holding onto his hand tightly so he wont get away.

"5-6-4, where are we going?" asked 4-0-5 irritably.

"I want to take you to my favorite spot to relax," said 5-6-4. "It's at a bench located next to a lake. Come on, you'll love it." Sighing in defeat, 4-0-5 let himself be dragged along the sidewalk until they came to a small lake near the entrance to the dome surrounding Jumba's lab. Once they got there, 5-6-4 let go of 4-0-5 in disappointment when she realized that there was a crowd gathered around her favorite spot.

"Oh no, there are others here," said 5-6-4 in disappointment. "I wanted the place to ourselves." As 5-6-4 pouted in disappointment, 4-0-5 was more interested in finding out what the experiments were doing here.

A crowd of at least thirty experiments had gathered around a table with a computer on top. The computer didn't look very fancy or expensive. It had a large CRT monitor with a white covering and a hard drive with the same covering. On a keyboard in front of the computer, experiments were lining up for a chance to type their numbers into the computer, the numbers being listed on the computer's black and white screen.

"I'm surprised you're here after the beating I gave you yesterday," said a familiar voice behind 4-0-5. Knowing who it was, 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 turned around to face 5-2-5 who stood behind them grinning.

"What are you doing here?" demanded 4-0-5.

"This is where you sign up for the entry test of the Experiment Tournament," explained 5-2-5. "All experiments who are aloud to participate in the test will be graded on how well they can fight and last during difficult conditions. All participating experiments will be scored based on their performance and the top 32 experiments on the list of high scores will be in the tournament. As usual, I'm going to pass that test with flying colors and once I pass the test, I'll be on my way to the Experiment Tournament."

"We know how the test works, 5-2-5," said 4-0-5 irritably.

"Really? I wouldn't have known since you've never taken the entry test," said 5-2-5 with a grin. "Now excuse me, I must sign up now." With that said, 5-2-5 passed in-between 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 and walked towards the computer.

The experiments surrounding the computer gladly stepped aside as 5-2-5 approached the computer. With anger boiling inside him, 4-0-5 marched towards the computer. 5-6-4 was worried because since she wasn't looking at 4-0-5's eyes, all she could interpret from her mind reading powers was that 4-0-5 was mad and determined.

"4-0-5, what are you doing?" asked 5-6-4 through her telepathy but 4-0-5 just ignored her as he walked towards 5-2-5. By the time 4-0-5 was close to the computer, 5-2-5 had already entered his number onto the list.

"Step aside," ordered 4-0-5 as he approached 5-2-5. 5-2-5 didn't resist as he stepped aside, grinning out of self-confidence. Once 5-2-5 was out of his way, 4-0-5 typed his number onto the keyboard and then hit "enter" to sign up for the entry test.

"Oh, you're signing up for the entry test, are you?" said 5-2-5 slyly. "Fine, you can sign up for the test but Jumba would never let a failed experiment in the tournament. You're just wasting time." The experiments laughed at 4-0-5, remembering how 4-0-5 had been rejected from the tournament twice already and remembering how easily 4-0-5 was beaten up by 5-2-5 at the restaurant. 4-0-5 just walked away from them, ignoring their cruel taunts.

4-0-5 approached 5-6-4 who stood waiting for him. She didn't need to ask what had happened since her mind reading powers could easily see into 4-0-5's mind and find out what had happened.

"I'll show him," said 4-0-5 angrily. "I'm going to pass that test and I'm going to be in the Experiment Tournament." 5-6-4 sighed in response.

"4-0-5, as much as I hate to agree with 5-2-5, I'm afraid he's right," said 5-6-4. "Jumba's never let you participate in the entry test in the past, what makes you think that he would now?" 4-0-5 froze in shock as he realized that she was right. After mentally kicking himself for letting his anger at 5-2-5 cloud his judgment, 4-0-5 said, "There's got to be some way of convincing Jumba to let me in the entry test. We just got to put our heads together and think." 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 stood there, thinking to themselves and not finding any answers. Just when the situation seemed hopeless, an idea finally came to 4-0-5 when he first realized that the entrance to the dome housing Jumba's lab was not too far from where he stood. 4-0-5 opened his mouth to say to 5-6-4 what he was planning but before noise could leave his mouth, she asked, "You're going to visit Jumba in his lab and try and talk him into letting you take the entry test?" Ignoring the fact that 5-6-4 had just read his mind again, 4-0-5 said, "It's my only chance."

"Jumba will probably get mad if you barge in on him," pointed out 5-6-4.

"I don't care," said 4-0-5. "I got to talk to him." 5-6-4 sighed in defeat.

"Well, good luck in there," said 5-6-4. With a smile to his friend, 4-0-5 turned around and headed towards Jumba's lab.

4-0-5 walked through the glass tunnel that connected the two domes together and as soon as the door at the other end of the tunnel opened, 4-0-5 found himself standing in front of a building he had not seen in years. The huge mansion-sized lab stood high above 4-0-5's short stature, making it appear larger than it really was to 4-0-5. The gray coloring and physical design of the front of the house made it look Romanesque while leaving the rest of the home devoid of any recognizable design. The ominous appearance of the home gave 4-0-5 the feeling he was about to step into the home of Dr. Frankenstein. After taking in a deep breath to calm his pounding heart, 4-0-5 walked towards the large wooden doors of the mansion. He pushed open the large double-doors to the home and then he began to walk through its long white halls. The sudden change from dark to white surprised 4-0-5 as he passed through the blinding white halls of Jumba's lab/home. The walls were lined with doors that led to different parts of the lab but there was no sign of Jumba.

"Jumba, are you in here?" shouted 4-0-5.

"I'm being here," said a voice from behind a slightly ajar door to 4-0-5's right. Recognizing the accent and the bad grammar, 4-0-5 knew Jumba had to be behind the door.

4-0-5 slowly pushed open the door and peered inside. Inside the room, Jumba sat in front of a computer, watching a list being produced in front of him on the computer screen. He no longer wore his lab coat like he usually did and was instead dressed more casually in pants and a red colored shirt. 4-0-5's eyes found themselves pointing towards the computer screen which had a list of numbers written on them. It wasn't hard to figure out that Jumba was looking at the list of experiments who signed up for the tournament.

When Jumba didn't respond to 4-0-5 entering the room, 4-0-5 said, "Jumba, we need to talk."

"I suppose it's about the Experiment Tournament," said Jumba without taking his eyes off of the screen. "I noticed that you had just signed your number on the list and if you're here asking to be in tournament, my answer remains 'no.'"

"Well, why not?" argued 4-0-5.

"Because, you are a failed experiment," said Jumba as he turned his seat around to face 4-0-5. "I designed the Experiment Tournament as a way to learn the progress of my experiments' fighting abilities. I don't need a failed experiment in the tournament to waist my time studying."

"Just because I can't use distempered magnetism like you wanted me to, doesn't mean I can't fight," argued 4-0-5.

"Yes, that's true, but there's no way you can fight in the tournament and expect you will come out in one piece," said Jumba. "My new six-hundred series of experiments are quiet powerful such as Experiment 6-0-1. He's programmed to know every form of martial arts known in the galaxy. 6-0-1 has just signed up for the tournament and others are just filling in their numbers. Of-course, even though there isn't too many from the six-hundred series, the experiments from the five-hundred series are very strong too like Experiment 5-2-5. The hundreds of tiny cubes that make up the structure of his body use powerful magnetic energies to enable 5-2-5 total control over them and shape himself into any form he wants. Even to this day, he's one of my greatest creations." 4-0-5 growled in anger at the mere mentioning of 5-2-5. "Sorry, but with these powerful experiments signing up, there's no way you could possibly last long in the tournament."

"Meega nala kweesta!" shouted 4-0-5 in anger as he extended his claws and then cut the leg of a table in half. The table, with only three legs, fell over and all of the papers and test tubes on top fell over and crashed to the ground, creating a huge mess around 4-0-5's feet. Jumba gave no response to what 4-0-5 had done to the table.

"Mind your attitude, 4-0-5, or I'll have to keep you in solitary confinement," said Jumba calmly. While trying to calm himself down, 4-0-5 said calmly, "Look Jumba, all my life, I've been treated like an inferior all because I'm a failed experiment. I know I can't properly use my primary function but I'm so good at other things yet no one, not even you, would give me a chance to prove that I really am capable of great things. I'm not asking that you let me into the tournament just like that. All I want is a chance to take the entry test like everyone else. It was you who made me this way and thus you owe me that chance." Jumba just sat there, thinking about what 4-0-5 had said to him and 4-0-5 waited anxiously for a response. A whole minute went by before Jumba finally said, "I'll think about it." It wasn't the answer 4-0-5 was hoping for but since he knew he couldn't push the subject any further, 4-0-5 reluctantly left the room to leave Jumba to think about it and to clean up the mess 4-0-5 had made.

When 4-0-5 reentered Alyzaum, he found 5-6-4 waiting for him.

"What did he say?" asked 5-6-4 eagerly.

"He said that he'll think about it," said 4-0-5. 5-6-4's jaw dropped in disappointment. 5-6-4 looked into 4-0-5's eyes in hopes of finding out if he was joking but her mind reading powers revealed that he was serious.

"You don't think he would reject you again, do you?" asked 5-6-4.

"I don't know," admitted 4-0-5. "All we can do is hope and wait."


	3. The Entry Test

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 3: The Entry Test

That night, 4-0-5 laid on his bed as he slept through a restless night of sleep. The entire bedroom was devoid of anything but white paint on all the walls. He slept on a small bed located next to a nightstand. His small bed wasn't a very expensive one nor a very large one. It was just a single mattress bed, about the size of a child's bed, and covered by a white sheet and a wool blanket which were used to keep 4-0-5 warm. 4-0-5 tossed and turned throughout the night, his dreams haunted by the events that happened yesterday and the day before. The taunts and the laughs he had endured plagued his sleep. He woke up at least three times during the night and each time he had difficulties falling back to sleep. By 7:30 AM, 4-0-5 was too tired to get up so he ended up sleeping in till 10:00 AM. He probably would have slept in later than that if it weren't for the unexpected arrival that came to his front door.

4-0-5 was awoken from his sleep when he heard someone pounding on his front door.

"4-0-5, it's me, open up," said 5-6-4's voice through the front door of the apartment. 4-0-5 reluctantly climbed out of bed and then dragged himself to the front door like a mummy. 4-0-5 began rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he pulled open the door. There, he saw 5-6-4 who looked ecstatic for some reason. In her left hand, she held a brown paper bag while in her right, she held a yellow colored envelope. 4-0-5 looked up at 5-6-4 in surprise, unwittingly revealing to her what he had been doing all morning

"Sorry for waking you but you wont believe what I just found taped to your door," said 5-6-4 in excitement after reading 4-0-5's mind. "I know you didn't leave your apartment for breakfast so I went out and got you some doughnuts for breakfast." 5-6-4 held up the bag to show him that it contained the doughnuts. "When I came to your door, I found this taped to it." 5-6-4 held up the yellow envelope which had evidence on it that showed it had already been opened. If 4-0-5 didn't feel so groggy then, he would have been irritated that she opened it before him but instead, he calmly took the envelope and looked at the letter that was sealed inside. The letter was made out of the same yellow colored paper as the envelope and on the paper it read:

_Congratulations_

You've been selected to participate in the entry test to this year's Experiment Tournament. You are now eligible to take a test to find out if you're physically capable to participate in the tournament. You will need to show up to the test on the date given below.

4-0-5 didn't bother to read the rest of the letter because he was too excited.

"I don't believe it, I'm finally going to take that entry test and get into the tournament," said 4-0-5 as he leaped into the air with joy.

"Hold on, 4-0-5, if you're going to get into the Experiment Tournament, you need to pass the test and in order to pass the test, you need to train," said 5-6-4. "Starting now, I'm taking you through a rigorous training program," 4-0-5 stopped jumping and stared at 5-6-4 in shock.

"Training?" asked 4-0-5.

"Yes, the experiments from the six-hundred and the five-hundred series will no doubt earn the most points on the test and if you want a chance to pass that test with a score high enough to get into the tournament, you need to start your training," said 5-6-4.

"Can't we do it later?" whined 4-0-5.

"No, according to the date on that letter, you have to take the entry test five days from now," said 5-6-4. "You have to train now while you still can." 4-0-5 only groaned miserably in response.

After breakfast, 5-6-4 dragged 4-0-5 onto the nearest bus and they road down town to Alyzaum's fitness center. The fitness center is a place specially designed to train experiments to improve their physical abilities by providing experiments with martial arts classes, swimming classes, body building exorcises, scenario simulators, and a lot of other things experiments need to improve their strength and their powers. The double-decker bus the two experiments were riding stopped at a bus stop located right in front of the fitness center. 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 stepped off of the bus as well as about a dozen other experiments, clearly wanting to train for the entry test as well. As soon as the two friends were off the bus, they found themselves standing on a wide concrete pavement which led to the large glass double-doors to the fitness center.

Alyzaum's fitness center is one of the largest buildings in Alyzaum. The building was four stories tall and it was cylindrical in shape, covering as much space as a mall. The outer walls of the building was smooth and light gray in color with rows upon rows of windows which revealed experiments inside the building. 5-6-4 grabbed 4-0-5's hand and then dragged him to the door. As he was dragged along, 4-0-5 asked, "Are you sure we can train here? The fitness center can be frequently crowded, you know."

"Relax, the fitness center has been closed to everyone except experiments who are registered to the entry test and those who are selected to be in the tournament," answered 5-6-4. "We could have the whole place to ourselves."

"I don't think so," said 4-0-5 as he watched the surrounding experiments heading towards the building, also with the intent of getting into the tournament.

"Don't worry, we'll find a private place," said 5-6-4 confidently.

True to her word, 5-6-4 managed to find an empty simulator room where 4-0-5 could train. The simulator room was a perfect square by about 10 feet and the walls were white in color with large green vertical and horizontal lines along it which gave it the appearance of graphing paper. The only change in this pattern was the door located along one wall and a large viewing window located on the same wall to allow the operator working the controls to see inside. 5-6-4 and 4-0-5 stood inside the simulator.

"Now, before I put you through the simulations, lets test your powers," said 5-6-4. "First, lets see you use your primary function, the distempered magnetism."

"Oh come on, 5-6-4, my primary function is useless in any situation," said 4-0-5. "Not even Jumba could find any use for it."

"Well, give it a try anyway," insisted 5-6-4. "Try creating a field of distempered magnetism right now." Reluctantly, 4-0-5 complied. 4-0-5 closed his eyes and concentrated on creating a field of distempered magnetism. As he concentrated, a dome of energy began to expand around 4-0-5. The field expanded into the shape of a large dome of energy which looked like a large green bubble. The bubble had a diameter of six feet and it surrounded 4-0-5 in a defensive position.

4-0-5 opened his eyes and said, "My field was originally intended to stretch for about one-fourth of a mile but because of my design flaw, it only stretches this far, not that it affects anyone anyway." To demonstrate, 4-0-5 walked towards 5-6-4 and the field followed him as he approached. He approached her until 5-6-4 was within the field. To 5-6-4's surprise, the field had no affect on her.

"Do you feel anything?" asked 4-0-5.

"No," answered 5-6-4.

"No one does," said 4-0-5. "By now, your fur is suppose to stand on end and you should feel other symptoms like headaches, pain in the chest, or a heaviness in your body but since my distempered field is so weak, it can't affect anyone." 4-0-5 collapsed the field and it vanished without a trace.

"Well, I heard you can concentrate the energy into a ball," said 5-6-4. "Lets see that." 4-0-5 stepped backwards by a few paces so he could demonstrate. Concentrating all his power, 4-0-5 began to create a large glowing green sphere which expanded to the size of a base ball. 4-0-5 threw the ball and it struck 5-6-4 in the chest but when the energy made contact, 5-6-4 could barely feel it. The energy from the ball surrounded her body like water being doused all over her but she couldn't feel the energy at all, even after it vanished from sight.

"You see, right now there is a temporary field of distempered energy around your body yet you can't even feel it," said 4-0-5.

"How long does it last?" asked 5-6-4.

"It's suppose to last for one hour but because of the flaw in my powers, it only lasts ten minutes, not that it can do any good, anyway," said 4-0-5. "That's all I can do with my distempered magnetism and all of it doesn't work."

"Perhaps your distempered magnetism wont be needed anyway," agreed 5-6-4. "How about we focus on your other abilities. Extend for me all of your appendages." Doing as he was told, 4-0-5 extended his extra arms, quills, and antennas, making his appearance even more threatening than before.

"Good, now let me see your fighting stance," said 5-6-4. 4-0-5 put one foot back and then raised all of his four arms in a fighting position. To add emphasis, he also sneered as if daring his invisible opponent to charge.

"That looks good but lets see how well you can fight," said 5-6-4. "Since you can't use your distempered magnetism, all you can use is your claws, your dexterity, and your shear will to fight. You ready?"

"I'm ready, just bring it on," said 4-0-5 with determination.

"Well, good luck in the simulation," said 5-6-4. "Remember, trust your instincts, don't get cocky, and use your head." With that said, 5-6-4 turned around and walked towards the exit to the simulator, leaving 4-0-5 by himself.

5-6-4 walked into the control room of the simulator, shutting the door to the simulator room tightly. The control room almost looked like a small radio station with walls that were covered in computers and complicated devices which 5-6-4 had no idea how they worked. Fortunately, the room came with a robot (resembling the bus drivers) to operate the system. The robot sat in front of a control panel that was covered in knobs and switches designed to operate the complex system. 5-6-4 sat down on a chair next to the robot so she could look down upon 4-0-5 through the window in front of her. 5-6-4 grabbed a microphone from the council and said into it, "Okay, 4-0-5, we're going to start the simulation and all you will need to do will in the simulation is destroy your opponent." 5-6-4's voice could be heard over the speaker in the simulator.

"How will I know what my opponent is?" asked 4-0-5. A microphone within the control room projected 4-0-5's voice to allow 5-6-4 to hear the question. 5-6-4 pulled the speaker to her mouth and said into it, "Oh, you'll figure it out." With that said, 5-6-4 leaned back into her chair and said to the robot, "Okay, begin the simulation." Obeying her command, the robot punched some buttons on the control panel and the simulator activated.

All of sudden, the entire room 4-0-5 was standing in disappeared. All around him, there was a bright white light which almost seemed to separate himself from the world around him. The light was beginning to irritate 4-0-5's eyes but the light vanished within seconds and 4-0-5 soon found himself inside a simulated forest. The realism of the simulator surprised 4-0-5 since it has been a long time since he's been in an actual simulation. Every detail of the forest was amazingly realistic. It resembled the swamp where Luke met Yoda in "The Empire Strikes Back" except it wasn't as wet or as swamp-like. The temperature generated by the simulator was very hot and humid and the air itself had a strange taste to it. 4-0-5 stood there, listening intently for any signs of danger. At first, all his ears could pick up was the sound of birds and wild animals scurrying about but nothing else. It wasn't long before he suddenly heard the sound of something very large coming his way.

The ground shook as huge footsteps came to the ground, indicating the approach of something as big as a tank or more. 4-0-5 extended his long metal claws from all four hands, the metal gleaming in the simulated sunlight. As he waited intently, 4-0-5 saw trees and bushes being pushed aside as something began walking through the forest. 4-0-5 got himself into a fighting stance and he prepared for whatever creature that maybe coming his way. Eventually, the trees in front of 4-0-5 toppled over and out appeared a huge monster.

The creature was like nothing 4-0-5 had seen before. It was as large as a tank and it stood on four short but thick legs. It was orange in color and it resembled a rhino but it had longer ears which rested on both sides of its head. It had two curved horns along the side of its head as well as one on its large nose. The creature growled and snorted like a bull getting ready to charge. 4-0-5 got himself into a fighting stance, ready to take on whatever this monster could dish out. The huge animal lowered its horn and began charging at full speed. Since it was only a few meters away, 4-0-5 only had a few seconds to react. Instinctively, 4-0-5 leaped into the air with his powerful legs. His amazing jumping abilities allowed him to sour high over the head of the creature and land onto its back. The rhino-like creature bucked around in an attempt to toss 4-0-5 off its back. 4-0-5 held onto the horns of the creature like a rodeo rider. He was tossed about several times until he lost his grip and sailed through the air.

4-0-5 flew through the air before expertly grabbing onto the trunk of a nearby tree and clinging to it like a fly. Before 4-0-5 could recover, the rhino monster slammed its horn into the trunk of the tree and the tree easily broke in half, causing it to come crashing down. Reacting quickly, 4-0-5 leaped off the tree and landed onto the branch of another tree. The creature quickly turned itself around and began charging towards the tree where 4-0-5 was hanging on. Before the rhino made contact, 4-0-5 leaped from the tree and landed onto the creature's back. The monster crashed right into the tree and the tree fell over, nearly hitting 4-0-5 who stood on the rhino's back. Seizing the opportunity, 4-0-5 extended his claws and with them, he cleanly cut off the monster's right horn as well as its ear in one clean swipe. Both the ear and the horn fell to the ground. The creature reared onto its hind legs as it cried out in pain. 4-0-5 lost his balance in the process and he fell off of the creature's back. With cat-like grace, 4-0-5 landed on his feet on the soft forest floor, splattering mud all over himself. The rhino monster came crashing to the ground, shaking the forest floor and planting all four of its legs into the ground in the process. Orange colored blood oozed out from the wound, flinging drops of blood everywhere with every turn of the monster's huge head.

Completely enraged, the monster turned towards 4-0-5 for another charge. 4-0-5 quickly hid into a nearby hole located at the base of a tree trunk. The rhino monster came crashing into the trunk, knocking half of the trunk to the ground but leaving the base of the tree undamaged. 4-0-5 sat within the tree, watching nervously as the creature began pushing its huge snout into the hole in an attempt to reach 4-0-5 who sat inside.

4-0-5 clung to the back of the hole, frantically racking his brain for a plan of escape. He was running low on time because the creature was using the horn on its nose to widen the hole and it was quickly coming closer to 4-0-5 as it chipped off more of the hole. Left with very few options, 4-0-5 drove his long claws into its nose. The monster cried out in pain as it once again reared onto its hind legs. The monster's orange colored blood oozed from 4-0-5's claws he ran underneath the monster as its huge feet came crashing to the ground.

4-0-5 ran as fast as he could towards the creature's severed horn which still laid on the forest floor right next to the bloody ear. 4-0-5 could hear the monster turning around and charging towards him but 4-0-5 paid no attention. He ran at full speed towards the horn without stopping until he scooped the horn into his hand. Knowing the creature was right behind him, 4-0-5 leaped into the air and landed right onto the back of the rhino monster. The monster stopped, not sure where 4-0-5 had disappeared to. With this distraction to buy him time, 4-0-5 raised the horn he was holding and with all the muscle he could master, he drove the horn right into the creature's neck. The rhino-like monster reared onto its back legs in pain, crying out in a cry that was gargled thanks to the long horn that ran down its throat. 4-0-5 leaped off of the creature's back and landed onto the forest floor. Next to fall was the huge rhino monster as it came crashing down like a ton of bricks. Dust was kicked up into the air, clouding the world around 4-0-5 until it disappeared under a bright light.

Once again, 4-0-5 felt almost weightless as the simulation deactivated. All he could see was a bright white light that was all around him. Once the light vanished, 4-0-5 found himself inside the simulation room. Amazingly, all the blood and dirt that covered his body due to the heat of battle had vanished with the simulation. However, 4-0-5 was still covered in sweat and was breathing heavily from all the excitement.

"Hey 4-0-5, you did a great job in that simulation," said 5-6-4's voice over the intercom.

"Yeah, that simulation was really tough but I told you that I was ready for the tournament," said 4-0-5, gloating as he spoke.

"What are you talking about?" asked 5-6-4. "That was only the first part of your training, you still have over twenty more scenarios to go through." 4-0-5's jaw dropped in shock.

"I have to go through all those?" demanded 4-0-5.

"Yes and don't complain," said 5-6-4. "Remember, the entry test to the experiment tournament is not easy so no slacking off." 4-0-5 groaned to himself as he saw the simulation activate again to put him through the next challenge.

For five days 4-0-5 was put through a number of scenarios and training sessions in his pursuit to prepare himself for the tournament. Everyday, he would go to the fitness center to train with 5-6-4 who put him through every training scenario she could find. She also made him do exercises before and after the training simulators, making him run laps and lift weights. 5-6-4 knew she was pushing 4-0-5 a little too hard but she knew that this was the best way for 4-0-5 to prepare for the entry test and although she didn't say so to 4-0-5, he none-the-less did as he was told without complaint. Everyday, his thoughts were on nothing else except getting into that tournament and wiping that smirk off 5-2-5's face.

After five days of training, the day of the testing finally arrived. The test was going to take place at the fitness center and, over a period of three days, all the experiments who signed up for the test will take the test one by one at an prearranged schedule. 4-0-5's test was to take place today at noon and 4-0-5 was so nervous he could barely eat his breakfast. After eating about half a meal, he spent the rest of the day standing outside the fitness center, waiting for his turn to take the entry test. On the wide and long concrete path in front of the fitness center, a crowd of experiments from all over Alyzaum stood waiting for their chance to take the entry test. Small plastic tables were set up everywhere and upon them was snacks and refreshments where the experiment gathered to socialize with one another or to stuff their faces. 4-0-5 stood next to one of these tables, watching all the experiments venturing in and out of the fitness center as Jumba called them to come inside to take the test. 4-0-5 anxiously stood next to the table, waiting for his chance to go and take the entry test.

After waiting for several hours, 4-0-5 had less than half an hour to go and he was growing impatient. Although experiments have already come and gone, there was still a large crowd of them waiting for their chance to take the entry test. The heat from 5-0-6 (the sun experiment) was causing 4-0-5 to perspire so he went over to a nearby cooler on the table to get himself a glass of lemonade. He grabbed himself a Styrofoam cup from the table and then poured himself some lemonade from the large brown colored cooler next to the cups. The lemonade was made from lemons from Beta-Quan which look and taste like Earth lemons but they are blue in color. 4-0-5 drank the blue colored lemonade in one gulp. Although the lemonade quenched his thirst, it didn't help the nervous feeling he got in the pit of his stomach.

After gulping down the lemonade, a large bus pulled over to the side of the road next to a bus stop. 4-0-5 watched as a large crowd of experiments began stepping out of the bus, most likely going to take the entry test. Amongst the crowd of experiments who were stepping off the bus, 4-0-5 saw 5-6-4 step out of the bus and when she saw him, she sent him a telepathic message.

"Hey 4-0-5, have you been here this whole time?" asked 5-6-4's telepathic voice from within 4-0-5's head. 4-0-5 didn't know if 5-6-4 could read his mind from at his current distance from her but he none-the-less responded by thinking to himself, "Yes, I didn't know what else to do all day." 5-6-4 gave no response except for a wide smile as she approached 4-0-5.

"Have you taken the test yet?" asked 5-6-4.

"No but I'm next in line," said 4-0-5.

"Really?" asked 5-6-4. "Who's taking the test right now?"

"Well…" hesitated 4-0-5. Before he could answer, he heard a loud cheer coming from the entrance to the fitness center as someone stepped out into the open.

A crowd of experiments cheered as Experiment 5-2-5 stepped out of the fitness center along side Jumba. From there, experiments were cheering the same way everyone does whenever they see 5-2-5 come into their presence and, as usual, 5-2-5 was milking the moment.

"Ah, thank you, thank you," said 5-2-5 as he flirted with confidence. "You are all too kind. Yes, I have taken the test and I'm sure I got the highest score, like last time. So you can all expect to see me in the tournament winning the crown once again." The audience cheered in excitement. 4-0-5 gritted his teeth in anger.

"Why that liar," said 4-0-5 angrily. "The test scores are confidential. How could he know if he had the highest score?"

"Just ignore it," suggested 5-6-4.

As 5-2-5 was being admired by his fans, he soon noticed 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 standing next to the beverage stand. Wanting to show off in front of the crowd, 5-2-5 immediately disassembled his limbs, head, and torso and then the pieces flew into the air. The pieces soared clear over the heads of the experiments and then reassembled himself right next to 4-0-5.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" said 5-2-5 casually. "4-0-5, I didn't expect to find you here. Are you here to congratulate me on passing the test."

"No, I'm here to pass that entry test and get into the Experiment Tournament," said 4-0-5 angrily. The experiments laughed at 4-0-5 as if he was making a joke. This display only made 4-0-5 even more angry.

"I don't see why you would want to," said 5-2-5 with a laugh. "Even if by some miracle you do pass the test, you wont make it through the first round of the tournament." Anger bowling within him, 4-0-5 was about to answer but before he had a chance to do so, he was interrupted by Jumba who called out from the entrance to the fitness center, "4-0-5, what's taking so long? We have a schedule to keep." Deciding not to push the subject, 4-0-5 said nothing as he made his way towards the fitness center with 5-6-4 following close behind.

Jumba led 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 into the fitness center whose halls and rooms were surprisingly quite and deserted compared to how active the place is before the tournament. Jumba led the two experiments to a simulation room where another one of the robots sat at the control panel. Jumba turned his massive frame around to face the two experiments and said, "Now 4-0-5, be paying close attention to what I say. You will be taking the test within this simulator. Here, you will be placed into different scenarios that will test all the abilities you will need to fight in the tournament. The test should last about forty sixty-second cycles. Are you ready?" 4-0-5 nodded his head to indicate "yes." Jumba turned his four eyes towards 5-6-4 and said, "However, I'm afraid I will have to ask your friend to leave. There are no visitors allowed to see the test in progress." 5-6-4 was disappointed but she knew better than to argue.

"I guess you better go," said 4-0-5 to his best friend. "Don't worry, I can handle this myself." 5-6-4's only response was a look of concern on her face but 4-0-5 knew she understood. Then, to the surprise of 4-0-5, 5-6-4 leaned over and kissed 4-0-5 on the cheek.

"Good luck, 4-0-5," she said. "I know you will do well." With nothing more said, 5-6-4 turned around and left the room, leaving 4-0-5 standing dumbfounded in the control room. He was not just surprised that he received a kiss from his best friend but he was also surprised because that was his first kiss from a girl.

"Well, are you going into simulator or are you just going to stand there like a cast-iron replica of a person?" asked Jumba. Snapping out of his trance, 4-0-5 calmly walked into the simulator, ready to take the test.

As 5-6-4 had told him over and over again during his training, the test was very hard, harder than 4-0-5 had anticipated. Simulation after simulation, 4-0-5 used all his skills and abilities to last through all the dangers of this extreme test. The test lasted only thirty minutes but afterwards he felt exhausted so he went back to his apartment to rest. With the test out of the way, 4-0-5 had to wait for five days. After five days, the experiments selected for the tournament will be announced and 4-0-5 will learn whether or not all his hard efforts will be rewarded. 4-0-5 spent much of his time waiting in his apartment in anticipation, growing evermore anxious with each passing hour. Even 5-6-4 was nervous, even though she tried not to show it.

4-0-5 woke up one morning with only one thing on his mind: "Today's the day." After what felt like forever, the day had finally arrived. The scores have been counted and the combatants have been chosen. 4-0-5 was so nervous, he almost didn't want to get out of bed and find out. However, his curiosity was stronger than his fear and doubts so he crawled out of bed and then ran outside. He impatiently waited by a bus stop for a bus to arrive. When the bus finally came, he quickly got on board and road it to the city park. Upon reaching the park, he ran as fast as he could to the same spot where the sign-up sheet on the computer was originally located. When he got there, he found a crowd of experiments, just like last time, but they weren't crowding around a computer. They were all gathered around a large wooden sign with a list on it. This list displayed all the numbers of the experiments selected to be in the tournament. With a sigh of nervousness, 4-0-5 approached the crowd.

As 4-0-5 got closer to the crowd, he could make out the facial expressions of the experiments. Some were cheering with excitement but there were far more experiments with disappointed looks on their face. One experiment was even on her knees, sobbing loudly with another experiment beside her trying to calmer her down. 4-0-5 weaved his way through the crowd as he approached the small board with the message on it. Standing next to the sign was 5-6-4 who stared at the sign in tears. Fearing the worst, 4-0-5 approached 5-6-4 and said to her, "It's okay, we tried our best. Maybe I'll get on the list next time." 5-6-4 turned her head to face 4-0-5, revealing a big smile on her face. "I'm not crying because I'm sad you didn't get on the list," said 5-6-4. " I'm crying because I'm happy you're on the list." 4-0-5's jaw fell open. Without hesitation, he turned towards the list and sure enough, his number was right there.

4-0-5 was speechless. He was finally in the tournament and after all those years of waiting and rejection, he was finally going to compete in the Experiment Tournament. With the feeling of relief, joy, and satisfaction in his heart, 4-0-5 joyfully hugged 5-6-4.

"Oh thank you, I couldn't have done it without you," said 4-0-5. 5-6-4 returned the hug. She never felt happier for her best friend.

However, the moment of joy was interrupted by one unwanted guest. 5-2-5 had been watching them celebrate just as he had reached the outside of the crowd. He snuck up on them quickly by dissembling his body and having those parts fly over the heads of the crowd and reassemble right next to 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 as they were hugging.

"So, you've managed to get onto the list after all," said 5-2-5 slyly after reassembling his separated pieces.

"What is it you want?" demanded 4-0-5 as he let go of 5-6-4.

"I've just come to see my number on the list and look, there it is now," said 5-2-5, pointing at the list. 4-0-5 faced the list again and sure enough, he saw 5-2-5's number on the list. "I guess I should be grateful because now I will have the chance to kick your butt again in the tournament and this time, I wont be as merciful as I was back at the restaurant." With that said, 5-2-5 disassembled himself and flew over the heads of the crowd which would have been cheering if it weren't for the fact that everyone was still upset about not getting into the tournament. Normally, 4-0-5 would have been mad at 5-2-5 but this time, not even he could spoil this moment. 4-0-5 was finally going to be in the Experiment Tournament and he was as happy as he could ever be.


	4. Round One Part 1

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 4: Round One Part 1

Author's Note: For you fans of my writings, the Experiment Tournament will feature a combination of experiments from the show, experiments I made up exclusively for this story, and the tournament will also have experiments that has appeared in fanfics that I had written previously. For more information, see the experiment list in my bio page.

After five days of waiting, the anticipated event had finally arrived. It was eight o'clock in the morning and every experiment in Alyzaum were on their way to see the big event. Jumba had every bus route changed so that the buses would take the experiments directly to the Experiment Tournament which was going to take place in Alyzaum's sports stadium. The huge stadium was built like a football stadium. It was white in color thanks to the concrete that was used as the building material for the stadium. Like a huge bowl, the sides of the stadium was covered with rows upon rows of plastic seats that were placed around a large round area where the fights were to take place. A ring was placed for the combatants to fight within. The entire battling ring was nothing more than a wide circle painted onto the white concrete surface of the arena.

Experiments from outside and inside were crowding every square inch of the stadium. The experiments who waited outside the stadium, waited in line as they were being led inside one by one. Meanwhile, the experiments who were already inside were crowding around all the seats trying to find a place to sit. The stadium was more than large enough to accommodate the experiments but it was still very crowded since all the experiments were scrambling to find a seat as close to the fight as they could find.

One of those experiments look for a seat was 5-6-4 who was pushing her way through the crowd. She wanted to a have a seat close to the arena so she could get a good close look at 4-0-5 when he comes up to fight but she had been searching the lower levels for over an hour without seeing a single available seat. Frustrated, 5-6-4 was about to give up when she suddenly noticed an available seat located about six rows from the front row. It wasn't as close as she wanted it to be but it was the closest seat available. Hurrying to grab the seat before anyone else, she climbed up the stairs at a quick pace, pushing past any experiment that got in her way.

The seat was next to the stairs, making it easier for 5-6-4 to get into the seat. As she sat down in the seat, she noticed that in a row right above the empty seat sat a rabbit-like experiment who had a large tub of pop corn, sodas, and candy bags in his lap. 5-6-4 recognized the experiment as Experiment 6-0-4, an invisibility experiment who will later be named Houdini. The sound of all those snacks and soda that 6-0-4 held in his lap added to all the sounds of commotion as experiments prepared for the big event which 5-6-4 felt so anxious to see that she could barely sit still.

Meanwhile, down below all the commotion of the crowd, 4-0-5 was also getting ready for the big event. Located right under the seats for the audience was a long compartment that ran along the edge of the stadium where a single bench provided the seat for all the experiments in the tournament. Thirty-two experiments sat on that one large bench as they all waited in anticipation for the tournament to begin. Some of the experiments just sat there while others were preparing for the fight by standing up and stretching their muscles. One of those experiments was 4-0-5 who sat on the floor trying to touch his toes with all four of his arms. 5-2-5 was not too far away from 4-0-5 and he was only grinning wickedly at him as if to taunt him silently. 4-0-5 tried not to look at him as he stretched.

The sound of the crowd overhead was defining to 4-0-5's sensitive hearing so 4-0-5 was surprised when he suddenly heard 5-6-4's voice say, "Good luck down there, 4-0-5." Surprised, 4-0-5 got back onto his feet and began scanning the area to find out where the voice came from.

"Up here," said 5-6-4's voice again. After hearing her voice again, 4-0-5 suddenly realized that 5-6-4 was speaking to him through telepathy which explained how well 4-0-5 could hear her voice over the background noises. He turned his head towards the crowd and sure enough, he could just make out 5-6-4 in the crowd. 4-0-5 couldn't talk back to her since he wasn't telepathic but he just waved in response and 5-6-4 waved back.

Thirty minutes had past and by now, the stadium was beginning to become more crowded. It wasn't a full house but the crowd was defiantly becoming more noticeably larger as the experiments from the outside all gathered to see the show. Meanwhile, high above the crowd, there was a large room located high along the rim of the stadium. This was the room where the sports announcer sat and it was in this room were 6-2-5 was preparing to do his job. 6-2-5 sat in a large chair, overlooking the arena below. In front of him was a desk where a large radio-like device was placed as well as a microphone. The entire room was very ugly to look at since the walls had an ugly brown paint and the carpet was bright orange. Sitting next to 6-2-5 was Experiment 2-9-7. This small crab-like experiment (who will one day be called Shortstuff) was hired to operate the electronics from the announcer's room. Using a control panel placed right in front of him, 2-9-7 could control the lighting and the cameras that projected images of the audience and the combatants along the large electronic screens that were placed along the rim off the stadium. Located right behind 2-9-7 was a pile of old machines and computers that were placed there by Jumba, just in case 2-9-7 had an urge to do some destruction in-between rounds.

Placed on the table, next to all the equipment, was a stack of bread and a cutting board where 6-2-5 was making himself a sandwich. On the floor by his feet was a cooler that contained sodas and all the ingredients and condiments 6-2-5 would be needing to make his sandwiches. 6-2-5 had just completed a six inch long olive loaf and tuna sandwich which 6-2-5 eagerly ate.

"What are you doing?" asked 2-9-7. "The tournament is about to begin in five minutes."

"I know, I'm just grabbing myself a little snack," said 6-2-5.

"Will you put that down before Jumba fires us both," said 2-9-7. "We have to be ready once it's time to begin the tournament." 6-2-5 sighed in defeat and he placed the sandwich back onto the cutting board. 6-2-5 picked up a pair of headphones and fitted them snuggly onto his head. He then picked up the microphone and then placed it in front of him, ready to begin.

With the flick of a switch, 2-9-7 activated the speakers and the entire stadium was filled with the sound of music. The crowd cheered with joy as the music began playing to announce the beginning of the tournament. 6-2-5 watched the cheering crowd through a viewing window located right in front of him. Butterflies churned in 6-2-5's stomach with nervousness. He had been practicing with Jumba all week on how to be a sports announcer and this was his big moment. It was like stage fright only 6-2-5 was just talking over a speaker. 6-2-5 took in a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. Once the music ended, 6-2-5 pressed a little red button on the microphone and the button glowed red, indicating that the microphone was on. With a shaky breath, 6-2-5 leaned over and said, "Good morning, citizens of Alyzaum. Welcome to Jumba's fifth annual Experiment Tournament. I'm your announcer, Experiment 6-2-5." 6-2-5's voice was played over the speakers, allowing the entire audience to hear his voice. The crowd cheered in response. "Now, before we begin, lets have a good look at this year's combatants." On cue with 6-2-5, the experiments in the tournament stepped out single file from their seats and onto the arena where the crowd cheered as they came out to introduce themselves.

4-0-5 was amongst the experiments and he stood on the very end of the line, his four arms, quills, and antenna had been fully revealed for all to see. The line of experiments were standing on the arena, showing off their abilities much to the amusement to the crowd. 4-0-5 had extended his metal claws and was slashing the air with incredible speed and agility, although it didn't look like anyone cared. Other experiments were putting up there own show with their abilities, especially 5-2-5 who was showing off to the audience his ability to rearrange himself. 4-0-5 could hear the sound off all the experiments cheering for 5-2-5, making comments like "Go, 5-2-5" or "Show us some more" or "We love you, 5-2-5." The large screens along the rim of the stadium showed close -ups of all the experiments and the audience cheered and booed at the screens in accordance with who was featured on the screens.

Once the introductory show was over, the contestants sat themselves back into their own personal seats to await their turn in battle. Meanwhile, 6-2-5's voice was heard over the speakers.

"Now, before we begin, lets go over the rules for those of you who have never seen the tournament before," said 6-2-5's voice over the loud speakers. "The tournament consists of five rounds and in each round, the experiments must battle each other in one on one fights. The winners of each fight are past on to the next round while the losers are out of the game and wont be aloud to continue. There are 32 experiments in the tournament and whoever is left standing after the fifth round is the winner. The objective of each fight is that the experiments must defeat their opponent. There is no time limit in this game so the combatants can fight for as long as they can. There are two ways of defeating an opponent. One, if an experiment leaves the ring, whether it be forced, willing, or accidental, the experiment is out of the fight, leaving the other victorious. Another way is that if the experiment falls unconscious or paralyzed during a fight, the experiment has only ten seconds to get back onto his/her feet. If the experiment doesn't recover before ten seconds, that experiment has lost. I guess there's nothing more to say so let the tournament begin."

The audience cheered with anticipation as two experiments got up from their seats and walked towards the ring. One experiment was a yellow colored electric experiment named Experiment 2-2-1 (aka Sparky) and the other was an experiment with a head shaped like a hammer. His name is Experiment 0-3-3 (aka Hammerface). The two experiments walked towards the center of the ring where two parallel lines were painted within the ring. The experiments positioned themselves face to face behind the two lines as 6-2-5's voice was heard over the speaker.

"These two experiments are Experiment 0-3-3, the hammer head, and 2-2-1, the electrical power surges experiment," said 6-2-5. "Will a large hammer be able to defeat an electrical power surge? We will find out as soon as the referee sounds the bell and begins the tournament." The referee was a large humanoid shaped robot with no head. It was made out of a silver colored material and on the chest, around a large glass dome where the robot's eyes sat, were some white and black vertical stripes. The referee stood seven feet tall and under its eyes was a speaker so it could have a voice. The referee robot walked over to a large round bell, kind of like the one you find in boxing matches. The referee pushed a button next to the bell and the bell rang, indicating the start of the fight.

2-2-1 was the first to strike. From his antenna, he fired a bolt of electricity. 0-3-3 reacted quickly by leaping into the air and over the electrical bolt. 0-3-3 soared high into the air and then came strait down towards 2-2-1 with the intent of smashing him with his hammer-shaped head. It looked like 0-3-3 was about to hit his target but 2-2-1 expertly dodged the attack with lightening speed. 0-3-3's head clanged loudly as it struck the ground. The audience gasped at the close call. Undaunted, 0-3-3 quickly lifted his head and began hitting the ground repeatedly in an attempt to hit 2-2-1. The screens overlooking the stadium showed up-close pictures of 2-2-1, revealing how he was expertly dodging all of 0-3-3's attacks with incredible speed.

0-3-3 threw his head towards 2-2-1 for another strike and predictably, 2-2-1 managed to dodge that attack but this time, 0-3-3 managed to get the upper hand as he managed to trip 2-2-1 with his tail as he tried to escape the hammer. 2-2-1 came crashing face first into the ground as he tripped. The audience gasped as 0-3-3 raised his head back with the intent of smashing 2-2-1 with his hammer but 2-2-1 made a counterattack by generating a field of electricity. The electrical energy tore through 0-3-3's body, tossing him into the air and then landing hard onto the floor of the ring. While 0-3-3 was on the floor, 2-2-1 charged towards 0-3-3 and then hit him strait on. The force of the head butt and the force of the electricity created by 2-2-1 upon impact tossed 0-3-3 into the air and he crashed landed onto the ground. There, he laid motionless.

"Uh oh, 0-3-3 seems to be down for the count," said 6-2-5. "He better get back up within ten seconds or be disqualified." The referee stood at the edge of the ring and began counting, "One, two, three, four…" The audience counted with the referee as they waited in anticipation. 0-3-3 didn't get up onto his feet and by the time ten was counted, he had lost. The crowd cheered for 2-2-1, repeating his numbers over and over again and 2-2-1 just stood there enjoying every minute of it.

The next combatants walked into the ring, ready to fight. One of them was a fire ball shooter known as Experiment 6-1-9 (aka Splodyhead). His opponent was Experiment 3-1-5. An experiment who has the familiar koala appearance but has a metallic body and large pocketknives for fore arms. This experiment's variety of knives in his forearms will one day earn him the name "Blade." The experiments got themselves into position and faced each other in whatever stance was appropriate for their abilities. The bell was sounded, signaling the fight to begin. 3-1-5's right hand rotated into his arm and rotating into place (like a pocket-knife) was a long sword. The left hand did the same thing. With something similar to a war cry, 3-1-5 charged towards 6-1-9 at full speed. As a counter strike, 6-1-9 fired plasma fireballs from his nose but 3-1-5 easily deflected the shots with his blades. It took only five seconds for 3-1-5 to be within slashing range but 6-1-9 expertly dodged the attack with cat-like dexterity. Some gasps could be heard from the audience as they witnessed the close call.

The blade on 3-1-5's right hand was replaced with an axe and 3-1-5 began swinging the axe with the intent of chopping 6-1-9 in two. 6-1-9 dodged the attack again but this time, he also shot 3-1-5 point blank in the chest which knocked 3-1-5 off balance for a moment. Watching 3-1-5 nearly fall over from just one shot gave 6-1-9 an idea. 6-1-9 made a mad dash towards the ring's edge and 3-1-5 quickly followed.

"What's he doing?" asked 6-2-5 over the speakers. "It looks like he's going to run right out of the ring." Many experiments from the audience laughed at 6-1-9, unaware as to what 6-1-9 was really up to.

6-1-9 stopped just at the edge of the ring and then performed a perfect 180 degree turn in order to face 3-1-5 as he charged. 3-1-5 raised his axe and took a swing to the ground. 6-1-9 swerved to the side, avoiding the axe by mere centimeters. 6-1-9 expertly leaped over 3-1-5's head, kicking 3-1-5 in the back of the head with his back legs and knocking him face first into the ground. 6-1-9 landed right behind 3-1-5 and got ready to fire. 3-1-5 got back onto his feet and spun around to face 6-1-9 who began repeatedly shooting him with his plasma balls. 3-1-5 tried to block the shots with his sword and axe but the shots were coming at him at such a fast pace that the force was pushing him backwards. What 3-1-5 didn't realize was that he was close to the edge of the ring and with every shot he deflected, the force of the shot pushed him towards the edge of the ring. A string of cries in support and against 6-1-9 was heard from the audience as 3-1-5 was unwittingly being pushed to the edge. 6-1-9 gave one last shot towards 3-1-5's face. That shot did not harm 3-1-5's metallic body but it did knock him off his feet and he landed just outside the ring.

"Oh, 6-1-9 has just pushed 3-1-5 outside of the ring," said 6-2-5 over the speaker. "That makes 6-1-9 the winner of the fight." The crowd cheered with joy as they celebrated the victory and 6-1-9 shot a few plasma balls into the air to show his gratitude for the cheers.

The next fight in the tournament was between a digging experiment known as 5-2-9 who will one day receive the name "Digger." 5-2-9 is yellow in color and his body is covered with brown spots. He has large shovel-like hands and a tail that is shaped like a drill. His opponent is Experiment 4-5-9, an experiment that is made entirely out of sand. Infact, she looks like a small pile of sand with eyes and a mouth. 4-5-9 will one day be referred to as "Sandy."

The two experiments got into place and once the bell rang, 5-2-9 was the first to move when he began to dig into the ground with his tail. However, his tail does not spin like a drill but instead, 5-2-9 digs by balancing on his tail and then spinning his entire body so that he would drill into the ground. Once 5-2-9 had burrowed his way into the ground, 4-5-9 just stood there, not sure as to where 5-2-9 had gone to.

"Oh, this is not good," said 6-2-5's voice over the speaker. "It looks like 4-5-9 doesn't know what to do from here and where did 5-2-9 go?" 6-2-5 didn't have to wait long for his answer because at that moment, 5-2-9 burst out of the ground underneath 4-5-9. The sand particles that made up 4-5-9's body were dispersed everywhere as 5-2-9 shot from the ground like a missile. However, 4-5-9 was unharmed by the attack. Like Experiment 5-2-5, Experiment 4-5-9 is made up of many different particles, i.e. sand. Each of the sand particles moved independently as they began to reshape 4-5-9. Also like 5-2-5, 4-5-9 can reshape herself into different forms. Although her shapes are not solid or complex as 5-2-5's, she can still take on various geometric shapes.

An example of this power was when she changed herself into the shape of a ball. All of the sand particles crawled along each other like ants and began to connect themselves into the form of a ball. Once formed, the ball rolled towards 5-2-9 but 5-2-9 once again dug into the ground and avoided getting run over. 4-5-9 was about to turn around and counter strike but before she could, 5-2-9 burst out of the ground underneath her and once again dispersed her sand everywhere. Beginning to feel frustrated, 4-5-9 tried her most dangerous move. Instead of reforming herself into a new shape, 4-5-9's sand particles began to fly through the air. 5-2-9 looked on in curiosity but by the time he realized what 4-5-9 was up to, he was already trapped. 4-5-9 had turned herself into a small sand storm which spun around 5-2-9 like a cyclone.

"It looks like 4-5-9 is trying to choke 5-2-9," said 6-2-5 and indeed, that was what she was doing.

The whirlwind of sand stung 5-2-9's eyes and repeatedly pounded his body like a real sand storm. 5-2-9 could only stand there as his body was ravaged by a sand storm. Refusing to surrender, 5-2-9 stuck the tip of his tail into the ground and began spinning. However, his plan was not to go underground. He instead spun on the tip of his tail like a top. Instead of digging into the ground, 5-2-9 was trying to create a small whirlwind that will pick up the sand and toss it around. Amazingly the plan worked. 5-2-9 was spinning so fast that the sand all around him was spinning with the current of his spin. Eventually, the wind was spinning so fast that the sand particles were being toss in all directions and some of the sand had fallen outside the ring. The robotic referee looked at the sand that had fallen out of the ring and although it was no more than two cups of sand, the referee declared it was enough to declare 5-2-9 the winner. After announcing this fact, the crowd cheered for 5-2-9 who waved his arms in the air to show his gratitude while 4-5-9 reassembled herself and ran off crying. 5-6-4 was watching this display from her seat and couldn't help but feel sorry for 4-5-9. However, her concern for 4-5-9 was soon pushed aside in her thoughts as 6-2-5 said over the speakers," Next up is Experiment 5-2-5 vs. Experiment 3-7-5." Upon hearing the number, 5-6-4 drew her attention back to the arena.

Experiment 3-7-5 glided towards the arena like a ghost, followed by 5-2-5 who was blowing kisses to all the girls who was screaming for him as if he was their favorite rock star. Experiment 3-7-5 is an incorporeal experiment that has many of the same qualities of a ghost. This experiment's power is to possess inanimate objects and in the future, his ghostly appearance will earn the name "Phantasmo." Several really quick maintenance robots managed to repair the damage made by 5-2-9 in less than a minute. By the time 3-7-5 and 5-2-5 found themselves facing each other preparing for a fight, the arena looked as good as new. As the two experiments awaited for the fight to begin, a large robot walked into the arena. It was humanoid in shape but it had a huge frame and limbs as thick as tree trunks. The head was square in shape and had a single red glowing eye. The robot stood about eight feet tall and many of the experiments in the audience were looking at the robot in confusion.

"For those of you who are wondering, the robot is here to allow 3-7-5 to fight," explained 6-2-5 over the speaker. "3-7-5 is programmed to possess inanimate objects and in order to fight back, 3-7-5 needs something to possess. However, there are special rules for him. He can only posses that one machine and if any part of the machine is to leave the arena while he is still inside it, he is disqualified. Now that that is explained, lets begin the fight." The referee sounded the starting bell and the two experiments made their first move.

3-7-5 entered the body of the machine and the machine immediately came to life as 3-7-5 took control of it. The robot charged towards 5-2-5 but 5-2-5 easily disassembled his tiny blocks and the robot passed harmlessly through them. The small cubes then reassembled into the shape of a hammer which 5-2-5 used to strike the robot hard on the head, creating a large dent. The crowd cheered at 5-2-5's narrow escape and then sudden sneak attack. As a counter attack, a secret compartment from the robot's arm revealed a large laser gun. 3-7-5 directed the robot's arm to aim at 5-2-5 and then began firing plasma. 5-2-5 immediately came to pieces and the little particles easily dodged the plasma.

The pieces flew towards the plasma gun and reassembled themselves into the shape of a wrench. The wrench grabbed the side of the robot's arm and with a good hard twist, 5-2-5 began to rip the arm off, taking the gun with it. 3-7-5 directed the robot's other arm to grab 5-2-5 by the handle but each time, the handle came apart preventing the robot from getting a proper grasp of the handle. It wasn't long before 5-2-5 managed to rip the arm clean off. The robot's arm and the gun attached to it fell to the ground with a loud clang.

"Well this is shocking," said 6-2-5 over the speaker. "5-2-5 had just ripped his opponent's arm off but I guess that's expected since 5-2-5 is last year's winner." In response, the crowd cheered their support for 5-2-5.

Using the remaining workable arm, 3-7-5 produced a large hammer, which came out of a hatch in the arm, and began swing it towards 5-2-5 but 5-2-5 was easily dodging the hammer. The small pieces of 5-2-5's body rearranged themselves into the shape of a large round boulder and then smashed right into the robot's chest without allowing 3-7-5 time to react. 5-2-5 repeatedly slammed himself against the robot. With every strike, 5-2-5 was pushing 3-7-5 ever more closer to the edge of the ring. In a desperate attempt to fight back, 3-7-5 once again swung his hammer at 5-2-5 who once again disassembled himself to avoid the attack and then reassembled himself into the form of a hand. With a good quick strike, the fist punched the robot in the face and the robot came crashing down and landed just outside the ring. The referee declared 3-7-5 out.

"Amazing, 5-2-5 had just pushed 3-7-5 out of the ring without even breaking a sweat," said 6-2-5's voice over the speaker. "He's amazing." The crowd cheered with joy, chanting 5-2-5's numbers over and over again and, as usual, 5-2-5 was showing off again by performing an array of transformations. 4-0-5 watched this display from his seat and he felt angered.

"What a show-off," thought 4-0-5 to himself but he quickly pushed his thoughts away from 5-2-5 and continued to wait patently for his turn to fight to come.

The next combatants are Experiments 4-8-2 and 1-0-6. Experiment 4-8-2 is a female experiment with bright orange colored fur and the same short floppy ears as 6-2-5. She has the usual koala-like appearance in addition to quills and tendril-like antennas just like Experiment 6-2-4 (aka Angel). The experiment also had some feminine features on the eyes and body. 4-8-2 was a powerful experiment who is known for her power to create as many replications of herself as she wants which will one day earn her the name "Replica." Her opponent, Experiment 1-0-6, looks like a black widow spider, no bigger than a small dog, with a red line running along his back and belly. This spider-like experiment (who will one day be known as "Spidy") has the power to shoot webs and his fangs inject a powerful venom.

As the two experiments got into the ring, 6-2-5 said over the speaker, "Just to let you all know, Experiment 4-8-2 is a replication experiment who can produce as many clones of herself as she wants. According to the rules, the experiment is out if the actual experiments was pushed outside of the ring or if the actual experiment falls unconscious. Since there is no way of knowing if the experiment is a clone or the original, a special rule had to be added for her. If one of 4-8-2's clones were to fall unconscious or wind up outside of the ring, 4-8-2 must destroy the clone immediately or else we will assume she is the original and declare her opponent the winner." 5-6-4 was surprised by this news and there were a few others who murmured as the same realization came to them. This information would mean that any experiment who fought 4-8-2 would need to figure out which one of the clones is the original. The same conclusion came to many other experiments and they all were leaning on the edge of their seats, wanting to see how this fight would turn out.

The two experiments faced each other just casually staring at each other. 4-8-2 brushed a tendril out of her face and matted down her fur as if she was about to dance instead of fight but as soon as the bell rang, she quickly sprang into action before with snake like reflexes. Like a splitting microscopic cell viewed through time laps photography, 4-8-2 split herself to into two individuals, producing an exact clone of herself. Then the clone and the original 4-8-2 divided themselves again, creating a total of four 4-8-2s. The 4-8-2's replicated again, creating eight 4-8-2s. 1-0-6 stared with his large insect eyes in amazement as his single opponent became eight in less than thirty seconds. Wanting to stop her before she creates anymore clones, 1-0-6 lowered his opisthosoma (also known as the abdomen) underneath his body so that the tip of the opisthosma was aimed at the clones. A web shot from the opisthosma like a net launcher and it struck one of the clones, leaving the rest to back away in surprise. The sticky web pinned the clone to the ground as she struggled against the web to no avail. When she couldn't escape, the clone immediately disappeared in a puff of orange smoke.

The other clones charged towards 1-0-6, creating more replications as they ran towards him. 1-0-6 began firing more webs at the clones but each one simply disappeared in a puff of smoke every time they were caught in a web. The nearest clone managed to kick 1-0-6 hard in the face, knocking him onto his back. 4-8-2 had been training in martial arts prior to entering the tournament and since all of her replications adopt all the skills and memories of their creator, all the clones were skilled fighters. Before 1-0-6 had time to get back onto his eight legs, the 4-8-2s began pounding on him with an array of kicks, punches, and slaps.

Blinded by all the confusion, 1-0-6 desperately tried to fight back by biting the first thing he saw which was the arm of one of the clones. The clone cried out in pain as 1-0-6's fangs sank deep into the arm. Venom was pumped into the clone but before the venom could take affect, the clone disappeared. The bite had been useless to help 1-0-6 because there was still over two dozen clones who was pounding him like an angry mob.

"Uh oh, looks like 1-0-6 is being swamped," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. The audience was cheering as the 4-8-2 clones continued to pound onto 1-0-6. It wasn't until they realized that 1-0-6 was unconscious did they back away from him and let him be. 1-0-6 was not severely hurt but his body was bruised and he laid on his back, not moving.

"This isn't good, 1-0-6 is unconscious and now he has only ten seconds to get back onto his feet or be disqualified," said 6-2-5. The referee began counting. All the while, everyone in the audience watched transfixed to see if 1-0-6 was going to be out of the tournament. Even the clones that surrounded him were watching in anticipation. Although 1-0-6 did twitch his legs a few times, he did not get up and once the referee counted to ten, he said, "The winner, 4-8-2."

Upon hearing the referee declare the winner, all the clones disappeared in a puff of orange smoke, leaving behind the original 4-8-2 who had been previously standing amongst them. The crowd cheered in celebration but instead of milking the moment like the other experiments, 4-8-2 just strutted off the arena as if she was a runway model. Meanwhile, 1-0-6 was carried off in a stretcher carried by two robots. As 4-0-5 watched 1-0-6 being carried away, he began to become nervous, thinking that he would end up like that. He pushed the thought out of his mind, not wanting to make himself nervous because there was only two more fights left before it was his turn….

The next two experiments up for the fight was Experiment 6-1-7 vs. Experiment 3-9-0. 6-1-7 was an experiment that resembled a green scorpion with a plasma blaster for a tail. This experiment will one day work for Gantu for a short time and from him, 6-1-7 will receive the name "Plasmoid." Experiment 3-9-0 looked like a large green slug that created a lot of green slime all over its body. In the future, this slimy experiment will earn the name "Slimy" once it gets recaptured from 6-2-7 by Lilo and Stitch.

The two experiments crawled and slithered into the arena, both of them staring each other down like angry bulls.

"Oh boy, this is going to be messy," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. Once the two combatants stood behind the red lines, the beginning bell rang and the fight began. 6-1-7 began firing plasma balls from his tail but 3-9-0 quickly dodged the attacks with surprising agility for a slug. Slime began to form all over 3-9-0's soft gelatinous body in response to the attacks and with a good flick of his head, 3-9-0 tossed a glob of slime towards 6-1-7. The slime struck 6-1-7 in the face and he cried out in surprise. The crowd collectively said "Ew" in response to seeing 6-1-7 being slimed. As 6-1-7 thrashed about to get the slime off his face, 3-9-0 flung another glob of slime at 6-1-7 and this time, the glob struck the ground around 6-1-7's feet. 6-1-7 stood in a puddle of slime but not for long. The slime was so slippery that 6-1-7 immediately slipped and fell onto his belly. 6-1-7 desperately struggled to get back onto his feet but the slime was too slippery.

With his opponent immobilized, 3-9-0 began charging towards 6-1-7. With the slime underneath 6-1-7, a good push would shove him outside off the arena like a hockey puck on ice. Using a small foot underneath him, 3-9-0 began sliding on his own slime as he charged towards 6-1-7.

"Uh oh, looks like 3-9-0 is going to knock his opponent down," said 6-2-5's voice over the speakers and in response, the crowd cheered or booed at whoever they most favored.. 6-1-7 managed to wipe some of the slime out of his eyes to see 3-9-0 advancing towards him at a fast pace. 6-1-7 realized what 3-9-0 was going to do and he quickly came up with a wild idea to fight back. Using his tail, he shot a blast of plasma towards the ground behind him. When the plasma hit the ground, a small black creator was made as well as an explosion of plasma. The power of the shot propelled 6-1-7 forwards like a rocket. At this point 3-9-0 was very close to 6-1-7 when he propelled himself and the two crashed into each other. The force of 6-1-7 crude proportion idea was strong enough to knock 3-9-0 in the opposite direction. Thanks to the trail of slime that 3-9-0 left behind, the momentum easily pushed him along the trail of slime and before he could stop himself, he slide out of the ring. With that feat accomplished, the crowd cheered as 6-1-7 was announced the winner by the referee.

As soon as 6-1-7 was pushed off the arena and the slime cleaned up, Experiment 2-3-1 and Experiment 5-1-5 came to the arena, ready to battle. Experiment 2-3-1 is a punching experiment who has barrel sized fists with small spikes on the knuckles. 2-3-1 is covered with grayish-blue fur and he has a large build with no quills, antennas, or extra arms to add to it but he did have long oval shaped ears that hung on the sides of his head. This punching experiment will one day be known as "Fist" as named by Lilo. His opponent is Experiment 5-1-5, a mauve colored experiment with long claws and blades designed to cut down entire forests. This experiment will one day earn the name "Deforestator."

The two experiments got themselves into position and once the bell rang, the two experiments charged towards each other with the intent to meet in a head on collision. 2-3-1 raised his over sized fists as he ran while the spinning blades on 5-1-5 buzzed loudly as they spun. The two collided with each other and the two fell backwards from the impact of each other's force. Both were dazed but otherwise unharmed. As soon as the two experiments got back onto their feet, the two began hand to hand combat, striking each other in a flurry of claws and fists. Despite how sharp 5-1-5's claws were, 2-3-1 was capable of blocking the attacks with his over sized fists. At some point, 5-1-5 left himself vulnerable to a head on punch while trying to strike. This allowed 2-3-1 the opportunity to give 5-1-5 a good punch in the face which knocked him onto his back. 5-1-5 scrambled back onto his feet but as he got up, 2-3-1 gave 5-1-5 a powerful uppercut in the face with such force, that 5-1-5 was actually tossed into the air and landed onto the edge of the ring with a loud thud. 5-1-5 fell outside of the ring and the referee declared 2-3-1 the winner. As the audience cheered, 6-2-5 said over the speaker, "Wow, that was a short fight. But don't worry, there is still several more experiments left to go."

Upon hearing 6-2-5, 4-0-5 got back onto his feet with impatients. It was now his turn to fight and he was dying of anticipation. After so long, he was finally going to be in the tournament and this fight will be his start towards the greatest event of his life and he was more than ready to face it. However, his excitement sank when he heard 6-2-5 say, "Okay, now on to our next combatants: Experiment 4-0-5 vs. Experiment 5-0-9."

Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter was a little long but bare with me because as the tournament progresses, the story will be more and more focused on the characters and the fights should be more interesting.


	5. Round One Part 2

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 5: Round One Part 2

Upon hearing the number of 4-0-5's opponent, 5-6-4 gasped in shock. She was hoping that 4-0-5's first opponent would be something easy but her heart sank when she heard the numbers 5-0-9. Experiment 5-0-9 is a plant experiment who can grow and spread like a weed. 5-0-9 (who will one day be known as "Sprout") is not only powerful, he's dangerous. 5-0-9 is driven entirely by the instinctive impulse to destroy his enemies. If 5-0-9 becomes too dangerous and out of control, he could really hurt 4-0-5.

5-6-4 was so deep in worry for her best friend that she didn't realize, at first, that something was flying over the stadium. When her telepathic powers picked up the thoughts of nearby experiments who were looking up in amazement, she quickly learned there was something overhead and the shadow that descended on her conformed her suspicions. When 5-6-4 craned her head back, she saw what looked to be a metal pie tin but it was several meters long and contained inside it was lots of dry dirt which was compacted neatly. Several rockets underneath it held it suspended in the air as it flew over the crowd and placed itself onto the arena, fitting itself perfectly with the ring.

"For those of you who don't know, Experiment 5-0-9 is a plant experiment that needs to be on top of a dirt surface in order to function," explained 6-2-5 through the speaker. "Jumba has provided 5-0-9 with this specially created stage for him. On this custom-made stage, the rules work the same way as any ordinary stage. Now that the stage is set up, lets begin."

As 6-2-5 finished talking, 4-0-5 nervously walked towards the stage. As he walked, experiments from the audience was laughing and yelling catcalls at 4-0-5. 4-0-5 tried not to let the taunts of the experiments get to him but the close ups of his face displayed on the large screens above betrayed him and revealed how he truly felt. One of the reasons 4-0-5 had come to this tournament was so he could earn the respect of his fellow experiments but instead, he was being ridiculed, like always. On the side of the stage of dirt was a ladder used to climb to the top of the stage. 4-0-5 slowly climbed up onto the dirt surface and once he was there, he caught a glimpse of 5-6-4 in the audience. Upon seeing her, 4-0-5's mind was filled with 5-6-4's telepathic voice which said to him, "Good luck, I know you'll win." 4-0-5 smiled back to her in response, feeling glad that there was at least one person who believed in him.

On the dirt surface was two thick red lines that had been painted for the two combatants to stand behind. As 4-0-5 stood behind one of the lines, the referee came onto the stage, carrying a large flowerpot in its hands. Inside the flowerpot was the dreaded, Experiment 5-0-9 who growled and snapped at the air viscously as if fighting off an invisible opponent. The referee set the pot behind the red line across from 4-0-5's position. The referee then gently pulled 5-0-9 out of the pot and then placed it onto the dirt right behind the red line. As soon as 5-0-9's roots touched the soil, the roots began digging into the ground, rooting 5-0-9 in place. 4-0-5 stared down at 5-0-9 who was no taller than a daisy but 4-0-5 knew that this experiment was more powerful than his size suggests. Once 5-0-9 was in place, the referee took the pot and then walked off the stage.

"Okay, the experiments are in place," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "Lets see how this fight will fare with a plant experiment vs. the failed experiment." 4-0-5 growled irritably in anger at 6-2-5 for mentioning that over the speaker but he quickly let it go since everyone knew he was a failed experiment anyway. Wanting not to distract himself from the tournament, 4-0-5 prepared himself by extending his extra arms, antennas, and quills, ready for combat.

The referee sounded the bell and the fight began. 4-0-5 was about to the charge with all of his claws drawn but 5-0-9 got the first strike. Without warning, 5-0-9's roots burst out from underneath 4-0-5's feet and began to wrap themselves around 4-0-5's body, binding and restricting him like a boa constrictor. Experiments were laughing at 4-0-5's predicament and he had to use all of his will power to not let the laughter get to him. He tried to break free from the roots but they were too strong. The tip of each root was a resemblance of 5-0-9's head and the multiple heads were biting at 4-0-5 painfully. Realizing that the roots were too strong for shear force to break him free, 4-0-5 instead extended all four of his claws and then began cutting himself free from the grasp of the plant. The roots were strong but 4-0-5's claws are made out of the sharpest and the most indestructible metal in the galaxy. The claws effortlessly slashed the roots in half and in no time at all, 4-0-5 fell to the ground, free of 5-0-9's chokehold.

However, 4-0-5 was not out of danger yet. The roots 4-0-5 had cut had already started growing back at an alarming rate as well as several other roots that were growing all around 4-0-5. 4-0-5 immediately got back onto his feet and extended his metal claws. He began cutting and slashing at the roots as they grew but the roots were too fast and even with his four arms working at once, 4-0-5 was beginning to become overwhelmed by the rapidly growing roots. Desperate to get away, 4-0-5 began running but the roots were sprouting everywhere he stood. 4-0-5 knew that the only way to stop the roots was to get at 5-0-9 himself but every time he got near 5-0-9, more roots would spring up to stop him.

The roots were driving 4-0-5 closer and closer to the edge of the arena and 4-0-5 was fighting desperately to get the roots away from him. Suddenly, about a half a dozen more roots came up from the ground right behind 4-0-5 and before 4-0-5 realized it, the roots wrapped themselves around him. 4-0-5's sharp claws were constricted against his body, preventing him from cutting himself free. Suddenly, the roots began to grow longer and longer, lifting their hapless victim higher off the ground. After lifting 4-0-5 about six feet off the ground, the roots began to spin him like a rock attached to a piece of string. As the roots spun 4-0-5 around, it became very clear to everyone as to what was about to happen.

"Oh no, 5-0-9 is going to toss 4-0-5 out of the ring," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "If 4-0-5 is tossed out of the ring, he will be out of the tournament." The experiments in the audience watched in anticipation, expecting 4-0-5 to be tossed out. 5-6-4's heart was pounding in her chest, fearing that her best friend was going to lose.

The roots finally let go and 4-0-5 was flung into the air but he didn't fly far. Thanks to 4-0-5's extraordinary dexterity and hand eye coordination, 4-0-5 twisted himself into position in just a split second after being released. With one hand, he grabbed onto one of the roots and as the root recoiled itself backwards, the root unintentionally tossed 4-0-5 back onto the arena and closer to 5-0-9. The crowd cheered in amazement at this stunning and unexpected turn of events, especially from 5-6-4 who nearly passed out from relief.

4-0-5 landed onto the heads of 5-0-9's roots and using his cat-like dexterity, 4-0-5 began leaping from head to head.

"I don't believe my eyes," said 6-2-5 in astonishment over the speaker. In less than five seconds, 4-0-5 landed right in front of 5-0-9. He then grabbed 5-0-9 by the neck and using a single blade from his index finger, he immediately severed the roots that connected 5-0-9 to the soil. With one clean swipe, 5-0-9 was removed from the ground and clutched by the neck in 4-0-5's hand. By then, roots were beginning to grab onto 4-0-5 but without 5-0-9 still attached to them, the roots were quickly drying up and dying, making it easy for 4-0-5 to escape them. Meanwhile, 5-0-9 was thrashing and biting 4-0-5 painfully but 4-0-5 ignored the pain as he ran towards the edge of the arena, shoving what ever dead plants that still tried to resist him.

Roots from underneath 5-0-9 were growing in an attempt to reach the ground but 4-0-5 easily cut the roots with his claws as they grew. Once 4-0-5 was close enough to the edge of the arena, 4-0-5 threw 5-0-9 into the air. There were some cries of surprise from the audience as 5-0-9 flew through the air and landed hard onto the concrete ground just outside of the arena.

"The winner, 4-0-5," said the referee before he hastily picked up 5-0-9 and put him back into his pot. There was a cry of cheers and boos from the audience after hearing the referee declare the winner.

"Amazing, this failed experiment had just defeated Experiment 5-0-9," said 6-2-5 over the speaker. 4-0-5 just stood there, waving at the audience and feeling proud of himself for defeating his first opponent. Since some of the experiments were clearly not happy about 4-0-5's victory, he decided not to stay for too long but before he got off the stage, he saw 5-6-4 in the audience, smiling down upon him. Although she didn't say anything, 4-0-5 knew she was proud of him too.

4-0-5 got back into his seat so he could watch the rest of the first round. Once the huge pie tin-shaped arena was removed, leaving the original concrete arena behind, the next two combatants stepped onto the arena. This fight was between Experiment 5-1-3 and Experiment 0-3-6. Experiment 5-1-3 is a dinosaur-like experiment with a large forked tail used for causing earthquakes by slapping the ground with it. This experiment will one day bare the name "Richter" after nearly splitting the Earth in two. Experiment 0-3-6 is a rock experiment who resembles a large round gray rock with arms and legs. His face is on the front of his boulder-like body and he has dark pupilless eyes. This experiment will be known as "Golem" for his boulder-like body.

The bell rang and 0-3-6 was the first to attack by curling into a ball and rolling towards 5-1-3. In an attempt to stop him, 5-1-3 began slamming the ground with his tail, causing cracks to form and disrupting the ground's smooth surface and causing it to be bumpy. The small earthquake could be felt by everyone in the audience and many cried out in surprise by the sudden vibrations. Despite all the cracks 5-1-3 was making in the ground, it wasn't slowing 0-3-6 who was charging at him at an alarming rate. 5-1-3 barely had time to step aside as the huge rocky form of 0-3-6 rolled past him, missing him by a mere inch. 0-3-6 made a hard U-turn and then headed strait for 5-1-3 for another charge attack. 5-1-3 hit the ground with his tail with such force, that the earthquake nearly knocked the audience out of their seats. The force created a huge crack to form in the arena, a crack so large that 0-3-6 fell into it. Before 0-3-6 knew it, he was wedged within the crack and he couldn't break free.

"0-3-6 is stuck," said 6-2-5 over the speaker. "Looks like victory is in the bag for 5-1-3." 5-1-3 ran over to the 0-3-6 and as he approached him, an evil looking grin appeared on 5-1-3's face which made 0-3-6 feel very nervous as to what 5-1-3 had on his mind.

After getting close enough, 5-1-3 turned around and raised his tail over 0-3-6's head. Before 0-3-6 could react, the tail came crashing down onto his head. If 0-3-6 was made of flesh and bone, his skull would have been smashed to pieces but since 0-3-6 was made of rock, he was only dazed by the blow. There were some sudden cries from the audience as they witnessed this painful blow. It wasn't long before 5-1-3 raised his tail again and then smashed 0-3-6 on the head a second time, followed shortly afterwards by a third blow. Each blow pounded 0-3-6 further and further into the ground like a nail. After being struck in the head three times, 0-3-6 fell unconscious. Realizing that 0-3-6 was not moving, the referee began counting.

"One, two, three, four…" counted the referee. The audience was holding their breath with anticipation, wondering if 5-1-3 had won the fight. 0-3-6 didn't move throughout the whole time and by the time the referee reached the count of ten, 5-1-3 was declared the winner and the crowd cheered.

It took about ten minutes before the robots managed to pry 0-3-6 out of the ground and carry him off on a stretcher. The cracks in the concrete were fixed and the audience waited anxiously for the next fight to begin but for some reason, the next two combatants were not coming out. Everyone sat there, wondering what was taking them so long. Even 5-6-4 was growing impatient as she sat on her hard uncomfortable seat, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, 5-6-4 began to notice that some experiments had taken their eyes off the ring and were pointing them towards the dome above. As before, 5-6-4's mind reading powers revealed that they were all looking at something large flying overhead. 5-6-4 was confused by this until she noticed a large shadow descending upon her and when she looked up, she gasped.

Flying overhead was what looked like a huge glass tank. The tank was large and cylindrical with a thick metal bottom and the walls were made of thick glass and metal framing which was at least 20 feet tall. Rockets underneath the tank held the tank suspended in the air as it flew high above the stadium and over the heads of the experiments. Experiments watched in amazement, some of them was afraid that the tank was going to fall on them. Following close behind the tank was what appeared to be a large blue blimp of some kind. Every experiment in the stadium watched in amazement as the tank flew over them and began to settle itself gently onto the ring, fitting perfectly on top. Once the tank was on the ground, everyone could see that inside the tank was two long white pillars located near the center of the arena. The pillars stretched from the bottom of the tank, all the way to the height of the walls and on top of these pillars were white platforms that were no larger than a two-person mattress for a bed. The floor of the tank was sky blue in color and completely solid.

The blimp that was following the tank hovered over the tank and underneath it, a hatch opened and water spewed from the bottom of the blimp. As the tank filled with water, the blimp began to deflate, revealing that the blimp was filled with water, not air. Once the water from the blimp was depleted, three metallic robots came out of another hatch on the blimp. These robots were about as large as house dogs and they looked like robotic flies. The robots flew around the tank in a circle just as the blimp flew away.

"I suppose by now you are all wondering what this is," said 6-2-5's voice over the speakers. "This is the latest addition to the Experiment Tournament. It is called The Battle Tank. In the past, water based experiments were not allowed in the tournament because the lack of water in the arena gave them a severe disadvantage. However, with this tank, that's all going to change. With this specially designed tank, water based experiments will have all the water they need to fight in the tournament. However, since there are extra dangers involved in this new environment, new safety precautions have been added. For one, all air breathing experiments who fight in this tank are aloud a breathing apparatus and goggles which can be quickly replaced if broken during battle. Also, these new robots flying around the tank are fly lifeguards who will step in to help any experiments who is drowning. The rules within the battle tank are a little different from the rules on dry land. The goal is still the same. If an experiment is tossed out of the boundaries of the tank or rendered unconscious for longer than ten seconds, the experiment is out. While within the tank, both experiments can either fight while on any of the platforms, or on top of the water, or under the water. I guess that's all there is to explain so lets bring out the first combatants to try out the tank: Experiment 5-0-1 vs. Experiment 2-0-6."

There were some surprised experiments in the crowd about the new arrangement but none the less, they welcomingly cheered for the two experiments who were going to use the battle tank. One of the experiments was a water shooting experiment named Experiment 5-0-1 who will one day earn the name "Yin." His opponent was an experiment named Experiment 2-0-6. This experiment is light brown in color. He has the same characteristics the majority of experiments share but he doesn't have extra arms, quills, or antennas, His ears are shorter and rounder than most experiments and on his back are a dozen of huge yellow spikes that covered his back. This experiment walks on all fours and the spikes on his back can fire at will and be replaced the spikes quickly. This experiment's spikes will earn him the name "Spine."

Two of the fly-like robots flew down to the ground and lifted the two experiments off the ground. Carried by small robot claws, the robots carried the experiments over the tank and placed them gently onto the platforms. 4-0-5 was rather frustrated from his position because he sits in the seats located under the audience and since the top of the tank was so high up, 4-0-5 could barely see 5-0-1 and 2-0-6. However, the audience could see the top of the tank more easily, especially 5-6-4 who watched with interest.

After being placed on one of the platforms, 2-0-6 stood on all fours, his spines spread out everywhere in anticipation for a fight. As 6-2-5 had stated, 2-0-6 was given goggles as well as a breathing apparatus. The breathing apparatus looked like a breathing mask with a cylindrical device attached to it. The device was connected to the mask by its side, leaving the two ends of the cylinder to absorb the air out of water every time 2-0-6 dives underwater and it takes in nothing but outside air every time 2-0-6's out of the water so he wouldn't suffocate. As 2-0-6 prepared his spines for attack, 5-0-1 was also preparing by dunking all four of his tentacles into the water and inflating himself with water from the tank. 5-0-1 grew larger and larger like a balloon and once he was filled to his maximum, 5-0-1 pulled three of his tentacles out of the water, leaving one in the water so he could refill himself.

The referee rung the bell and the fight began. 2-0-6 was ready to strike at the sound of the bell but 5-0-1 was faster. Using three of his four tentacles, 5-0-1 fired a spray of water which caught 2-0-6 completely by surprise. The force of the water pushed 2-0-6 towards the edge of the platform and he was fighting desperately to stay on. In his panic to fight back, 2-0-6 blindly fired all of his spikes in all directions. The spikes had completely missed their target and those that could have hit 5-0-1 was quickly blown away by the force of the spraying water.

As 2-0-6's spikes began to grow back, 5-0-1 wasted no time in delivering his final strike. Pulling his fourth tentacle out of the water, 5-0-1 fired at full force with all four of his tentacles. The force of the water rushing water was so strong, it pushed 2-0-6 high into the air. He fell down towards the water but he didn't fall far. With incredible aim, 5-0-1 expelled all the water he had left and the shot shoved 2-0-6 out of the ring where he fell over the edge. One of the fly-like robots flew over to 2-0-6 and caught him before he could hit the hard concrete floor. Upon realizing that 5-0-1 had defeated 2-0-6, the crowd cheered and 5-0-1 showed his gratitude by firing a few spurts of water into the air.

The fly-like robots carried 5-0-1 out of the arena and then brought the next two combatants into the water tank. The fight was between Experiment 6-0-2 and Experiment 4-5-6. Experiment 6-0-2 is a powerful aquatic experiment with an over sized fin that can cut entire ships in half as if they were partially melted butter. This experiment will one day earn the name "Sinker." His opponent, Experiment 4-5-6, looks like an octopus. His black eyes are attached to long stalks and his skin is orange-red with a light pink coloration on his face. This octopus experiment will be known as "Octo." The two experiments were placed onto the platforms but since they were both water experiments, neither of them really needed to use the platforms.

"This should be interesting since both experiments are water based so looks like we're going to be seeing some underwater action here," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. The bell to start the tournament rang and the two experiments immediately dove into the water with a small splash.

Through the glass walls of the tank, the audience could see the two water experiments positioning themselves while underwater. 4-0-5 was watching through the tank also since it was easier to see the experiments while they were in the water. It was still a little hard to see them since water bends light but he could easily tell what was going on inside the water.

While underwater, neither experiment could hear the crowd who was watching them but it didn't matter. They had a fight on their hands…I mean fins. 4-5-6 made the first move by spinning around in the water like a top and then, while using his spinning tentacles, he repeatedly began slapping 6-0-2 hard in the face before finally knocking him against the wall of the tank with a good strike of his tentacle. 6-0-2 quickly recovered from the blow and he charged towards 4-5-6. 4-5-6 spun around and was about to strike 6-0-2 again but 6-0-2 effortlessly dodged the attacks since he was more agile in the water than 4-5-6. 6-0-2 swam around 4-5-6 in a few circles like a shark circling its potential pray. 4-5-6 just sat there in the water, not sure as to what do or what 6-0-2 was up to. Realizing that his opponent is confused, 6-0-2 charged towards 4-5-6 from behind but one of 4-5-6's long eye stalks turned around and saw 6-0-2 approaching. He quickly spread out his tentacles and before 6-0-2 knew it, he was caught in the tentacles and 4-5-6 began to squeeze 6-0-2 with those powerful tentacles.

"6-0-2 is being crushed," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. The audience watched the underwater struggle with amazement. 6-0-2 couldn't see anything because 4-5-6's body was in his face. Also, the tentacles were crushing 6-0-2's chest which was bad because 6-0-2 breathes air and if he releases his breath, he could drown. Not wanting to give up that easily, 6-0-2 quickly freed his arms and then, with all the strength of his arms and legs, he began swimming at a fast speed on a collision course with the side of the tank. Since 4-5-6 was still attached to 6-0-2's face, he would be crushed once 6-0-2 hits the tank. 4-5-6 didn't realize this fact until he came crashing hard against the glass walls of the tank. This blow dazed 4-5-6 but that wasn't the end of it. After ramming the tank, 6-0-2 made a quick reverse and then rammed the wall repeatedly. Dazed and suffering from a major headache, 4-5-6 let go of 6-0-2 and began swimming towards the surface. 6-0-2 let 4-5-6 swim over him so he could deliver a most devastating blow.

6-0-2 swam down to the bottom of the tank and watched 4-5-6 swim to the surface of the tank. Once 4-5-6 was about to reach the surface of the water, 6-0-2 charged towards 4-5-6 like a missile. He lowered his head so that the tip of his fin was pointing at its target and then he began to spin like a drill. Like a spinning torpedo, 6-0-2 spun through the water and struck 4-5-6 right under him. The force of the blow shot 4-5-6 out of the water and into the air, splashing water everywhere. He sailed high out of the water and fell right outside the walls of the tank where he was caught by one of the fly-like robot.

"The winner, 6-0-2," announced the referee and the crowd cheered at the amazing display of dexterity and power demonstrated by 6-0-2. 6-0-2 swam to one of the platforms and began waving his arms as if to thank the cheering crowd for their support.

Once the fight was over and 6-0-2 was removed from the tank, the flying blimp brought out a long hose and began sucking up all the water in the tank with a loud vacuum noise. The blimp began to inflate as water filled it up and all the fly robots flew back into their compartments. Once the tank was empty, it was air lifted out of the arena, just like how it was flown in, and was taken somewhere outside the stadium. As the tank was moved out of the stadium, 6-2-5 said over the speakers, "Well, this is becoming a long first round but don't worry, there's only five more battles left and once we start getting into the next rounds, the battles will become more intense. But until then, our next combatants are Experiment 5-0-2 and Experiment 6-0-3."

_Author's Note: Experiment 4-5-6, aka Octo, is that octopus-like experiment seen at the end of Stitch the Movie. According to information obtained online, that experiment's name is Octo and his number is 4-5-6. However, this information is unconfirmed. Also, Experiment 2-0-6 is an original character and should not be mistaken for Experiment 3-1-9 a.k.a. Spike._


	6. Round One Part 3

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 6: Round One Part 3

The crowd cheered as the experiments stepped onto the arena. Experiment 5-0-2 is a lava shooting experiment with four volcano-like spouts that shot lava everywhere. This experiment will one day bare the name "Yang." Experiment 6-0-3 is like a living laser ball who resembles a yellow football with electricity coursing around his body. 6-0-3 will one day be named "Electric" when he gets rescued by Lilo and Stitch after being taken by Experiment 6-2-7.

The two experiments positioned themselves behind the red lines drawn in the center of the arena. 6-0-3 didn't walk to the red line but simply glided a few feet off the ground to the line and hovered in place. The electricity surrounding 6-0-3's body pulsated like veins pumping blood as he prepared himself for the fight. The ground underneath 5-0-2 began to heat up and crack as he too prepared for a fight. The heat within his body was building and producing the deadly lava, heating the ground.

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of the fight, and 6-0-3 made the first move by charging towards 5-0-2 with a loud electrical sound buzzing through the air. 5-0-2 countered the attack by firing balls of lava at 6-0-3 but 6-0-3 was so fast that he easily dodged the attacks, allowing the lava to sail past him. 6-0-3 struck 5-0-2 in the head, zapping him with a powerful jolt of energy that painfully tossed 5-0-2 backwards and he fell onto his back. 5-0-2 laid there on the ground, dazed but unhurt, for a five seconds before he managed to struggle back onto his feet.

6-0-3 soared high over 5-0-2 who managed to position himself in preparation for the next strike. 6-0-3 dove towards 5-0-2 like a dive bomber and 5-0-2 was once again firing at him as he descended but, like before, 6-0-3 easily dodged the attacks. 6-0-3 grinned to himself as he dove, thinking that 5-0-2 was just making the same mistake as before but in reality, 5-0-2 was only luring 6-0-3 into a false sense of security. As he fired lava from his back, he kept one of his lava spouts pointing in the general direction of 6-0-3 without firing. 6-0-3 was so busy dodging lava from the other spouts that he didn't realize that one was kept aimed at him until it was too late. Once 6-0-3 was within mere inches of his target, 5-0-2 fired a ball of lava at close rang which struck 6-0-3 in the face. Cries of surprise could be heard from the audience as 6-0-3 was knocked unconscious by the lava ball and he was tossed into the air where he landed a few feet away onto the concrete ground.

"Ouch, that's got to hurt," said 6-2-5. " Looks like this little guy is down for the count and the referee has begun counting." Down at the ring, the referee was counting to ten, just as 6-2-5 had said. The audience sat there, holding their breaths as the numbers were called. Once ten was reached and 6-0-3 declared out, the audience cheered and like the experiments before him, 5-0-2 was celebrating with their cheers.

After 6-0-3 was carried away on a stretcher, the next two combatants came onto the ring: Experiment 5-6-9 and Experiment 6-0-9. Experiment 5-6-9 is a hallucination experiment. He is a powerful experiment who can create visions and scenarios into the minds of his victims as if they were real. He resembles Stitch except that he has no quills, antennas, or extra arms and his ears were a little shorter and laid on the sides of his head like donkey ears. He has black and white zebra stripes all over his fur. His power to create illusions in people's minds will earn him the name "Mirage." Experiment 6-0-9 is an experiment who can create large amounts of heat from the orb on his forehead. He will one day earn the name "Heat" from Gantu.

4-0-5 watched 5-6-9 walk onto the ring with an air of confidence which annoyed 4-0-5 since the way 5-6-9 was showing off reminded him too much of 5-2-5. 5-6-9 got onto the ring and stood right in front of 6-0-9 who's orb was glowing softly as he charged himself up for an attack. But instead of preparing for a fight, 5-6-9 casually stood there behind the red line as if his opponent wasn't any concern of his. The bell rang and with the reflexes of a snake, 6-0-9 fired a ball of heat from his head and the ball sailed quickly towards 5-6-9 but shortly after the shot was fired, it vanished and so did the rest of the stadium.

6-0-9 blinked in surprise as his environment suddenly changed from a stadium full of experiments to a large jungle that felt hot and humid to 6-0-9. 5-6-9 had projected an image into 6-0-9's mind, creating this illusion that he's inside a tropical rain forest. The ball of heat that 6-0-9 had fired missed 5-6-9 and from the audiences' perspective, they only saw the two experiments just standing there, unaware that 6-0-9 was already under 5-6-9's power.

Not sure as to what to do next, 6-0-9 began firing haphazardly in all directions out of desperation to strike his target. Of-course, since he could not see his target, 5-6-9 easily dodged the attacks as 6-0-9 fired in random directions. Wanting to make things more interesting, 5-6-9 projected a new illusion into 6-0-9's mind. All of a sudden, the forest background changed into a frozen wasteland similar to Antarctica. 6-0-9 immediately wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to keep himself warm as the imagined cold air began to rob him of his body warmth. Although the cold was not real, it felt real to 6-0-9 and the audience was watching in confusion as 6-0-9 just sat there in the middle of the ring shivering.

"If only we could see what 6-0-9 sees," said 6-2-5 over the speaker. "It looks like he's freezing cold." 6-0-9 heard none of what 6-2-5 had said because the hallucination filtered out all external sounds and the only sounds 6-0-9 could hear was the sound of the cold wind that blew onto 6-0-9's face. The ground was covered in a foot deep of snow which 6-0-9 knew was fake but it felt way too real. Snow fell everywhere and it felt so cold, 6-0-9 could barely generate enough heat to fight back.

5-6-9 casually walked up behind 6-0-9, watching with pleasure at how cold 6-0-9 looked. Thinking that now would be the perfect time to strike, 5-6-9 karate kicked 6-0-9 in the head, knocking him face first onto the concrete but to 6-0-9, he thought he landed face first onto a frozen ground. 6-0-9 spat out some snow (which didn't exist) and then got back onto his feet and began firing heat balls in all direction but with his body beginning to become very numb with cold, the heat he was generating was weak and didn't travel far. Since his body doesn't realize that the cold was all an illusion, the cold was affecting 6-0-9's ability to generate heat. This gave 5-6-9 more chances to strike with more karate kicks and punches that he learned prier to the tournament. While in the hallucination, 6-0-9 could not see where the attacks were coming from but he could feel them, as if his opponent was invisible.

6-0-9 was growing weaker because the illusion he was experiencing was so real and so cold, he could barely stand. As 5-6-9 realized how weak 6-0-9 was becoming, he took advantage of this by creating a hallucination of the frozen world changing to a blistering desert. Almost instantaneously, the fabricated environment that 6-0-9 was seeing had changed into a dry desert. A bright sun gleamed high overhead in the blue cloudless sky and the ground was flat, cracked, and dry. Instead of shivering with cold, 6-0-9 found himself sweating constantly, the heat was terrible, even for him.

In the bright sunlight, 6-0-9 suddenly saw a figure appear right in front of him. The figure was none other than 5-6-9 who just grinned at 6-0-9 smugly, seemingly unaffected by the heat.

"For a heat experiment, you certainly can't handle a dry hot desert," said 5-6-9 smugly.

"Let me out of his illusion, 5-6-9," ordered 6-0-9.

"You want out?" asked 5-6-9 casually. "Okay, but you got to catch me first." Angered, 6-0-9 fired a heat ball at 5-6-9 who dodged it easily. "You got to be faster than that if you want to defeat me." And with that said, 5-6-9 turned around and began running in the opposite direction. Despite the heat, 6-0-9 ran at full speed at 5-6-9, chasing him across the factitious desert floor.

"Come on, slow poke," taunted 5-6-9 as he ran. "I'm sure you can't be bothered by a little heat."

"Make it as hot as you want," said 6-0-9 as he ran. "I know this is not real."

"True, but this is," said 5-6-9. And all of a sudden, the hallucination disappeared.

6-0-9 was surprised because the first thing he noticed was that he was no longer hot and covered in sweat. The next thing he heard was the referee saying, "6-0-9 out." 6-0-9 immediately turned around and to his horror, he realized that 5-6-9 had just tricked him into run out of the ring. Because he could only see what was projected in his mind, he didn't realize where he was running until it was too late. The audience cheered at 5-6-9 who was holding out his arms into the air as if to cheer with them.

"Wow, that was quite an extraordinary tactic," said 6-2-5. "Looks like we'll be seeing more because 5-6-9 is going to second round." 6-0-9 was so mad that he fell for that trick that he turned around and ran off in a childish pout.

The next two combatants to step into the arena was Experiment 6-0-1 and Experiment 5-4-4. Experiment 6-0-1 is a viscous four-armed experiment designed to pick fights with anyone he meets. His fighting abilities will one day earn him the name "Kixx." His opponent, Experiment 5-4-4, is an experiment who can stretch his six tentacle-like arms and thrash them around, knocking down all nearby opponents. He will one day earn the name "Thrasher" from Gantu.

The two experiments got themselves into position and when the bell rang, signaling the start of the fight, 5-4-4 stretched four of his six arms at 6-0-1 in an attempt to strike him at full force towards his face. However, 6-0-1 was quicker than anticipated and with the reflexes of a cat, 6-0-1 grabbed the four tentacles with just one hand. 5-4-4 tried to pull his tentacles free but 6-0-1 held onto the tentacles with a vice grip. 5-4-4 stretched his remaining two tentacles in an attempt to strike 6-0-1's hand hard enough to get him to let go but by the time 5-4-4's arms stretched far enough, 6-0-1 easily grabbed onto the stretching tentacles with his other arm, holding them as well.

"This can't be good, 6-0-1 has got 5-4-4 pinned down by his tentacles," said 6-2-5's voice over the speakers. 5-4-4 pulled his tentacles with all his might, unaware of what 6-0-1 had planned next.

As 5-4-4 pulled on his tentacles with every ounce of his strength, 6-0-1 lifted his feet from the ground and was pulled with the tentacles as they recoiled back to their master. Before 5-4-4 realized what he was doing, 6-0-1 flew through the air along the tentacles and like a rocket, 6-0-1 punched 5-4-4 hard in the face, knocking him onto his back and he slid across the hard concrete floor for several yards. The audience gave off some cheers to 6-0-1 for his clever trick.

As 5-4-4 attempted to get back up, 6-0-1 karate kicked 5-4-4 in the face, tossing him another two yards backwards. This attack was followed shortly afterwards by a strong uppercut to the jaw, which pushed 5-4-4 another yard. 5-4-4 gathered all his strength to get back onto his feet and then he stretched his tentacles in an attempt to fight back but 6-0-1 dodged the attacks like a gymnast. 6-0-1 gave 5-4-4 a strong uppercut which was so strong, it tossed 5-4-4 into the air and he landed, a foot or two from the boundary of the ring. If 5-4-4 moves backwards again, he's out.

"Uh oh, it looks like this fight is going to be over quickly," said 6-2-5 over the speaker. The audience watched in anticipation, expecting 6-0-1 to push 5-4-4 out of the ring but for some reason, 6-0-1 just stood there, watching the badly beaten and bruised 5-4-4 getting back onto his feet. With one of his four hands, 6-0-1 motioned 5-4-4 to come forward, as if to say "bring it on." Thinking that 6-0-1 was just being cocky, 5-4-4 stretched out a single tentacle but 6-0-1 caught the tentacle with one hand. Once again, 5-4-4 tried to break free from 6-0-1's grasp but this time, 6-0-1 let go of the tentacle and it snapped back into place with such force, that it knocked 5-4-4 backwards and he landed onto the ground with his head landing just outside the boundaries of the ring. The referee shouted, "6-0-1, the winner." The crowd cheered for 6-0-1, chanting his number over and over again as they celebrated. 6-0-1 began impressing the audience by performing a few posses which caused some of the female experiments to scream wildly at the sight of 6-0-1's manly physique. Meanwhile, 5-4-4 ran off in disgrace.

The next two combatants are Experiment 5-2-8 and Experiment 3-6-5. Both experiments flew towards the center of the arena and positioned themselves in preparation for the fight. Experiment 3-6-5 looks like a butterfly with large colorful transparent butterfly wings. The experiment's body also looks like a butterfly but it is more animal-like than insect. He has lavender colored skin and arms and legs. He has an oval shaped head with no visible ears but he does have black pupilless eyes and insect-like antennas. Instead of a nose, the experiment has a large hole in the center of his face. The colorful wings on 3-6-5 frequently change colors seemingly at random. 3-6-5's primary function is guerrilla warfare. He instinctively sneak attacks his enemies and strikes without warning. To help him become invisible while stalking, he can change the color of his skin and wings with such detail that he could almost turn invisible in front of the background by camouflaging himself. The hole on his face allows him to shoot plasma which is his primary weapon. His ability to change into a dazzling array of colors will one day give Experiment 3-6-5 the name "Rainbow."

His opponent, Experiment 5-2-8, is a female experiment whose appearance resembled the usual koala-like appearance of an experiment but she has a noticeably female body, just like Experiment 6-2-4, (a.k.a. Angel). She's covered in short dark purple fur as well as two arms, a koala nose, and black pupilless eyes. She doesn't have quills or antennas but she does have the same short ears as Experiment 6-2-5. Attached to her back are two large purple bat wings which are used for flying with. 5-2-8's primary function is the power to control air, enabling her to cause fierce wind storms and devastating tornadoes. It is this power that will earn her the name "Tornadra."

The two experiments hovered over the ground behind the red lines, waiting for their chance to attack. The bell rang and 3-6-5 quickly vanished as he activated his camouflage. 5-2-8 was surprised at first when she saw how well 3-6-5 just disappeared into the background. This moment of hesitation was all 3-6-5 needed as he fired a green plasma ball from his nose which 5-2-8 managed to dodge by making a hard turn to the right and spinning her body around so that the ball of plasma would fly past her. 5-2-8 responded to the attack by raising her hand and began concentrating all the air around her to blow from her hand. Like an invisible fan, air was blown from her outstretched hand and instantly, 3-6-5 found himself being blow away by the wind. The audience watched in amazement as the force of the wind began pushing 3-6-5 closer and closer to the edge of the ring. 3-6-5, who had his camouflage deactivated, resisted the wind with all his might but it was a losing battle. His large wings acted like kites caught in an updraft which made him less than properly wind resistant.

Drawing ever more closer to the edge of the ring, 3-6-5 fought desperately to get over the wind. He flapped his butterfly wings as hard as he could until he managed to rise above the wind and soared high over 5-2-8. From his nose, he fired plasma balls at 5-2-8. 5-2-8 deactivated her wind out of surprise to find plasma raining down on her. Despite her best attempts to dodge the plasma, one of the blasts struck 5-2-8 in the shoulder and she fell to the ground hard. Now that he had the upper hand, 3-6-5 camouflaged himself into the background and then began his bombardment of plasma towards 5-2-8.

5-2-8 flew off the ground and, while staying low to the ground, she flew around the ring with the plasma still raining down upon her. 5-2-8 was moving very fast, making it hard to hit her, so 3-6-5 flew closer to the ground and began firing some more. 3-6-5 made sure not to stay in one place while he fired plasma. He instead began circling the ring, firing plasma and thanks to his camouflage, 5-2-8 could not see where her opponent was attacking.

Realizing that she has to work fast if she wants to defeat 3-6-5, 5-2-8 decided to use the full force of her power. She flew to the center of the ring and began to conjure a tornado. The air around her began to spin, quickly growing in momentum and strength. 3-6-5, while still invisible amongst the background, hovered near the edge of the ring and watched as the tornado began to form, wondering what she's doing. It wasn't long before the tornado began to move so fast, that every bit of loose debris was flying around it. The audience were holding on tight to all their snacks and drinks since the wind was so strong.

"Wow, that girl can really blow you away," said 6-2-5 sarcastically over the speakers. Suddenly, 5-2-8 began to expand the tornado. It grew and grew, moving closer and closer to 3-6-5. 3-6-5 was worried because if that tornado gets any larger, it could force him out of the ring. 3-6-5 decided to dive into the wind head on. While deactivating his camouflage, 3-6-5 searched his mind frantically for some idea but his list of options was slim and the tornado was drawing quickly towards the edge of the ring. Left with no other choice, 3-6-5 flew towards the tornado (in hopes of some how getting through the wind, and once he entered it, he suddenly was swept away by the wind as if he was tossed into the current of a rushing river.

5-2-8 hovered within the eye of the tornado where there was hardly a breeze going on inside. From behind the wall of wind, she watched 3-6-5 flying into the tornado, his wings spread out as he attempted to fly through the wind. As expected, 3-6-5's large wings got caught in the wind and it carried 3-6-5 along the wind's current and 5-2-8 watched as 3-6-5 was helplessly flung around within the boundaries of the tornado. 3-6-5 fought desperately to maintain his control before the tornado tosses him out. 3-6-5 directed his wings with the path of the tornado, allowing him to fly with the wind and it worked. Much to 5-2-8's surprise, 3-6-5 managed to ride the wind, spinning him around and around and with every circuit he completed, the closer he got to the eye of the tornado.

5-2-8 was about to speed up her tornado even more, in an attempt to toss 3-6-5 out, but then an even better idea occurred to her. Instead of spinning the tornado faster, she instead expanded it. The audience began to feel alarmed as they saw the huge tornado beginning to grow towards them.

"What is that girl doing?" asked 6-2-5 over the speaker with a hint of alarm in his voice. The tornado was beginning to slow down as it began to reach the boundaries of the ring making it easier for 3-6-5 to fight the force but he was oblivious to the fact that he was moving closer and closer to the edge of the ring.

All of a sudden, the tornado stopped, leaving 3-6-5 a little dizzy but still capable of maintaining his altitude. He was about to fly in to attack 5-2-8 but then the referee said, "3-6-5 is out, 5-2-8 is the winner." 3-6-5 was confused until he realized what had happened. 5-2-8 had spread her tornado so wide, it went beyond the boundaries of the ring and by the time the tornado had stopped, 3-6-5 was now outside of the ring and thus he had lost. The crowd cheered for 5-2-8, celebrating her big victory. As they cheered, 6-2-5 said over the speakers, "Well folks, this round sure has gone on forever but don't worry, The next fight is the last fight of round one so lets bring out our next combatants, Experiment 5-2-3 vs. Experiment 6-1-3."

With their numbers called out, the two experiments walked out onto the arena, ready for a fight. Experiment 5-2-3 is an ice making experiment who can produce lots of ice and snow just by blowing cold air. This experiment will one day earn the name "Slushy." His opponent is an experiment with a large trumpet-like horn on his head. The experiment bounced on his tail as if it was a spring and with each bounce, 6-1-3 honked loudly with his horn. This experiment will one day earn the name "Yaarp."

The two experiments got into position behind the little red lines and as they waited, something came flying over the stadium. Many of the experiments in the audience were shocked to see what appeared to be a glass dome of some kind. The dome had no bottom and it was made of thick glass. The dome flew high above the stadium, suspended on nothing more than five rockets lined along the rim of the dome. The dome was lowered on top of the ring, trapping the two experiments inside. Its diameter exceeded the diameter of the ring by four yards, leaving a lot of space around the ring.

"Folks, in case you are wondering what this is, this is a sound proof dome," explained 6-2-5 over the speakers. "Experiment 6-1-3's primary function is to create really loud noises. Noises that could hurt the ears of the audience so to muffle the sound, Jumba has set up this dome for our safety. The referee is ready to start the fight now so lets sit back and enjoy the show." The crowd cheered in response.

While inside the dome, 5-2-3 and 6-1-3 waited for the signal to start the fight. Since they could not hear noises outside the dome, where the bell was located, they depended on the referee to show them when the fight starts. From outside the glass dome, the referee stood by with a square piece of cardboard in hand. Both experiments had their eyes on the referee instead of each other as they waited for the signal. The referee held up the board over his head, revealing it had the word "Go" written on it which was the signal to start the tournament.

With the signal in place, 6-1-3 was the first to strike. He extended his horn and from the mouth of his horn came a sonic blast that was so strong, it knocked 5-2-3 off his feet. 5-2-5's ears ringed painfully from that sudden strike of sound. Ignoring the pain, 5-2-3 immediately got back onto his feet and then blew from his mouth a breath of cold air which quickly began to encase 6-1-3 in ice. 6-1-3 was contained in a huge dome of ice like a cocoon but not for long. He fired a sonic blast which shattered the ice like glass, freeing him from its icy prison. The noise produced from 6-1-3's horn was so loud, it was damaging 5-2-3's hearing and he growled in pain as he covered his ears with both hands. He was certain he would go deaf and the sonic blasts that coursed through his body was also very painful.

Desperate to protect himself, 5-2-3 breathed in then fired a cloud of cold air which formed an ice doom around him which helped muffle the sound. Believing that 5-2-3 was just hiding for cover, 6-1-3 bounced on his tail as he approached the dome of ice. While balancing on his tail, 6-1-3 fired a sonic blast at the ice barrier. With every noisy blast aimed at the ice, huge cracks began to form. Three sonic blasts was all it took to shatter a large hole into the ice dome and once the hole was formed, a cloud of frozen air blew out of the hole and into 6-1-3's horn just as he was in the middle of firing a fourth blast. The cold air blown by 5-2-3 went into the horn, freezing it solid with a sheet of ice. 6-1-3 yelped in surprise by the painful frost that formed on his horn. He tried to fire another sonic blast but his horn was too cold to function correctly. All that came out was a low pitched sound which sounded similar to someone blowing through a conch shell. Now that 6-1-3's primary attack was disabled, 5-2-3 immediately fired a huge cloud of cold air which quickly surrounded 6-1-3. By the time the cloud cleared, 6-1-3 was trapped in a block of ice, frozen solid and immobile.

From outside the dome, 5-2-3 could see the referee beginning to count. Now that 6-1-3 was immobilized, he had to somehow break free before ten seconds and 5-2-3 smiled to himself, knowing that his victory was assured. Because of the sound-proof glass, he could not hear the referee declaring him victorious nor could he hear the cries of the cheering audience, even if his ears stop ringing at that point. However, he could see the crowds through the glass, their cries were silent but their expressions were clear and 5-2-3 couldn't help but grin.

As the dome was lifted and 6-1-3's frozen body was slid along the concrete ground to the infirmary, 6-2-5 said over the speakers, "Well folks, this marks the end of round one. Round two will be starting in about thirty minutes and until then, sit back and enjoy our half-time show by our one and only, Experiment 3-4-5." Upon hearing his number, Experiment 3-4-5 walked onto the ring and the crowd cheered as he came out. Experiment 3-4-5 is a clownish experiment designed to distract people with his clownish tricks and his stretchy body. This experiment will one day work at a circus and would be known as "Elastico." Using some ropes and the poles of the stadium, 3-4-5 began to perform fro the crowd some of his acrobatic stunts.

As 3-4-5 put on his show, crowds of experiments left their seats in order to buy more snacks and use the bathroom. Meanwhile, 6-2-5 sat in the announcer's room, leaning back in his chair.

"Wow, being an announcer is harder work than I thought," said 6-2-5. "I need a drink, and a salami and sauerkraut sandwich." With that, he reached into the cooler sitting next to him and pulled out a soda can which he emptied in just two gulps. He then tossed the can aside and then pulled out some salami and bread to make himself a sandwitch. Meanwhile, 2-9-7 (aka Shortstuff) proceeded to tare apart the old electronic devices that Jumba had left for him to play with.

Underneath the audience was the stadium's infirmary where many of the experiments from the tournament had gone. All the injured experiments from the tournament had gone there and were treated by Jumba's only medic experiments., Experiment 0-4-9 and Experiment 5-3-3. Experiment 0-4-9 is a basic medic experiment designed to treat the sick and injured. She has the usual koala look with some feminine features (such as the ones from Angel) and she is covered with white fur and a large red medic cross is on her chest and belly. 0-4-9's ability to treat the sick and injured will earn her the name "Nurse." Her partner, Experiment 5-3-3, is a medical experiment also but she has the power to instantly heal and cure experiments with just the touch of her claw. She resembles 0-4-9 except she is covered with red fur and she has a white cross on her chest and belly. Her power to heal people so quickly will earn her the name "Healer."

Inside the white painted walls of the infirmary, The injured experiments laid in beds accepting the treatments offered to them by 0-4-9 and 5-3-3. 5-3-3 was using her powers to fully heal 5-2-3's hear. After getting his ear drums blasted by the loud noises of Experiment 6-1-3, 5-2-3 could barely hear at all but by placing her hands over 5-2-3's ears, 5-3-3 could instantly heal his hearing back to their full strength. Meanwhile, 0-4-9 was treating 6-1-3 who had been thawed from his icy prison and sat next to the heater with a blanket around him. Despite all this warmth, he was shivering with cold and 0-4-9 gave him a cup of hot coca to warm him up.

Since 4-0-5 was not hurt after his fight with 5-0-9, he didn't need treatment. He was only there to get a glass of lemonade from the keg on top of the snack table. Some of the experiments who lost the first round didn't look too happy. The sand experiment, 4-5-9, was so upset that she lost that she sobbed loudly in the corner. In addition to all the sobbing and the long faces, there were some cries of celebration from the winners of the first round. Some of them were celebrating so much that they looked like they had one the tournament already. It was certainly a good thing that 5-2-5 wasn't in the room, or else he would have joined in. However, 4-0-5 didn't join in with the celebration by the other experiments but instead decided to remain silent until he left the infirmary to get back to his seat. He didn't want to be as cocky as them. After all, that was only the first round. There are four others after it and they're only going to become more difficult in time….


	7. Round Two Part 1

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 7: Round Two Part 1

After waiting in line for 20 minutes just so she could use the bathroom, 5-6-4 returned to her seat and watched 3-4-5 performing tricks in the arena during the half-time show. From her seat, 5-6-4 saw 4-0-5 sitting in the bleachers down below. 4-0-5 didn't appear to have noticed her but 5-6-4, none the less, smiled upon seeing him. She thought about how much she was proud of him and how much faith she had in him that he would win the approval of the other experiments in this tournament. She didn't know how but she knew he would.

Meanwhile, up in the announcer's booth, 6-2-5 had just finished eating that sandwich he had prepared earlier. He laid back in his chair with crumbs all over his face and patting his fat belly.

"Oh man, that was the best," said 6-2-5 to himself. "I could really taste the sauerkraut that time."

"Yuck, you have the worst taste in sandwiches," said 2-9-7 (a.k.a. Shortstuff) in disgust. "No wonder Jumba thinks so little of you."

"Well, that's his problem," said 6-2-5 casually. "He likes fighters but I'm a lover, a lover of sandwiches." 2-9-7 grumbled to himself.

"You better get ready because we're on the air in less than a minute," said 2-9-7. Shooting a quick glance at the nearby clock, 6-2-5 realized that his partner was right. He hastily brushed the crumbs off himself with his hand and then proceeded to operate the microphone while 2-9-7 worked the controls.

"Hey folks, we're back and now that our remaining combatants are rested up, it's time to begin Round Two of the Experiment Tournament," said 6-2-5's voice over the speaker. The audience cheered with joy with a loud up-roar. 6-2-5 waited for the cheers to quiet down before he continued to speak. "We began with thirty-two experiments but after round one, we are left with only sixteen and the numbers will only drop further with each round and once the weaker experiments are eliminated, the fights will only become more intense. The winners of round one will face off against each other for the right to enter round three and hopefully to round four and five. Starting off the second round will be Experiment 6-1-9 vs. Experiment 5-0-2." As their numbers were called, the two experiments stepped onto the arena, the cries of the audience blaring overhead as they sent their catcalls. Experiment 6-1-9 (Splodyhead) stood behind the red line, his nose glowing from the build up fireballs ready to be fired. Experiment 5-0-2 (Yang) was also beginning to become very warm as the ground underneath him began to crack from the built up heat he was generating.

The two stood poised, ready to attack at the first sound of the bell. Once the bell rang, the two fired their primary weapons at the same time and the lava ball and plasma ball collided with each other, resulting in a fiery explosion that splattered plasma and lava everywhere. Undaunted, 5-0-2 fired a ball of lava from his back but 6-1-9 dodged the attack as fast as a cat evading water. However, the lava balls were spreading a lot of debris as they struck the ground. Chard pieces of lava flew everywhere as the lava balls hit the ground and one lava ball landed so close that the particles struck 6-1-9 in the leg. 6-1-9 cried out in pain as the lava burned his skin. Realizing that 6-1-9 was vulnerable, 5-0-2 fired three lava balls into the air and the lava soared in a large ark with the intent of raining down upon 6-1-9. 6-1-9 saw the attacks coming and expertly fired three plasma balls which struck the lava in mid-air and the lava exploded upon impact.

Growling in frustration, 5-0-2 fired some lava from his back, this time aiming directly at 6-1-9. Ignoring his burning legs (which wasn't damaged too bad since all experiments are naturally enduring), 6-1-9 leaped over the lava ball that was fired and as he soared through the air, he began raining down his own plasma balls upon 5-0-2. This sudden attack caught 5-0-2 off guard, allowing three plasma balls to strike 5-0-2 into the face. Hot steaming plasma covered 5-0-2's eyes and face. He thrashed in pain as the heat from the plasma began to grow too intense for him. As 5-0-2 thrashed about, 6-1-9 landed right in front of his opponent. He then laid onto the ground and positioned himself underneath 5-0-2 as he thrashed about blindly and once his head was perfectly under 5-0-2's bell, 6-1-9 fired a plasma blast right underneath 5-0-2 and the force of the plasma tossed 5-0-2 clear off his feet (about two feet off the ground) and 5-0-2 landed hard onto the concrete ground.

The plasma on 5-0-2's face had come off, revealing 5-0-2's angered face and the rage in his eyes. While 5-0-2 laid on the ground, 6-1-9 began bombarding 5-0-2 with plasma from his nose. The shower of plasma struck 5-0-2 as he laid on the ground, bruising him further. Filled with determination, 5-0-2 got back onto his feet and then fired three lava balls into the air and at the same time, 6-1-9 lifted his nose and fired plasma at the lava. The plasma balls struck the lava just as they were fired, causing the lava to explode in midair within close proximity of 5-0-2. The force was so strong that it knocked 5-0-2 off his feet and he rolled a few times before coming to a stop and there he laid motionless.

"Oh, 5-0-2 is down for the count," said 6-2-5. "Lets see if he can get back up in time." Everyone, especially 6-1-9 watched in anticipation as the referee began counting.

The audience stared transfixed upon 5-0-2 as the numbers were announced.

"One, two, three…" counted the referee and the audience held their breaths. 6-1-9 grinned to himself, thinking that he had won the fight but he was wrong. By the time the referee counted to five, 5-0-2 was already struggling to his feet. 5-0-2's supporters from the audience was calling out words of encouragement to 5-0-2 while 6-1-9's supporters were yelling for 5-0-2 to stay down. Once the referee had counted to seven, 5-0-2 had already managed to get back onto his feet and ready for action.

"Oh, 5-0-2 was close to being disqualified but from the looks of things, it doesn't look like he will last much longer," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. Indeed, 5-0-2 was so weak, he could barely stand on his own four feet but none the less, he was determined to not give up without a fight.

5-0-2 growled as he fired lava from his back in all directions. Like a machine gun, lava was fired everywhere and 6-1-9 ran for his life as the lava fell all around him. As 5-0-2 fired balls of lava at 6-1-9, 6-1-9 began firing more plasma at 5-0-2. The shots hit 5-0-2 and the force of the plasma struck 5-0-2 so hard that it put 5-0-2 in a daze. Weak from all the constant lava spewing and the direct hits from 6-1-9's plasma, 5-0-2 was finding it hard to keep his ground. Knowing that his opponent was vulnerable, 6-1-9 sprinted as fast as he could towards 5-0-2. His four tired legs carried 6-1-9 towards 5-0-2 and with all the force he could manage, he head-butted 5-0-2 in the side and 5-0-2 just collapsed like a sack of beans and once again, 5-0-2 remained motionless.

Seeing that 5-0-2 was down, the referee ran to the edge of the ring and began counting. As the referee counted, the audience watched in anticipation. This time, however, 5-0-2 didn't recover in time and once the number "ten" was announced, the audience screamed joyously for 6-1-9.

"Amazing, he completely knocked 5-0-2 down," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "Well folks, this is truly a testament of the power of shear speed and dexterity." 6-1-9 couldn't help but be happy for himself and he was cheering with the crowd, a wide smile on his face.

Once 5-0-2's unconscious body was moved out of the arena and the lava and plasma cleaned off, the next two combatants stepped onto the arena. This next fight was between the electric experiment 2-2-1 (a.k.a. Sparky) and the digging experiment 5-2-9 (a.k.a. Digger). The two experiments entered the ring, the crowd calling their numbers and cheering for their favorite experiment. Electricity coursed along 2-2-1's long antennas as he stood behind one of the red lines in the center of the ring, facing his opponent. He bared his teeth to his opponent like a wolf about to strike a rival wolf. 5-2-9 on the other hand just grinned with an air of confidence as if he had no doubt he was going to win. He balanced himself on the tip of his drill shaped tail like a man on stilts. The referee rang the bell and 2-2-1 fired a bolt of electricity from his antennas but 5-2-9 was prepared. He immediately began to spin, drilling into the ground. An electrical bolt struck him in the chest as he was drilling but despite the searing pain he was in, he kept drilling until he was entirely underground.

5-2-9 had disappeared underneath the arena out of sight. 2-2-1 immediately shot the ground with his electricity. Using all the energy he could spend, he filled the ground with electrical power that spread throughout the arena but 2-2-1 quickly realized there was a problem.

"Uh oh, it seems 2-2-1 is at a disadvantage here," said 6-2-5 over the speaker. "Electricity cannot penetrate deep into the ground which means that for as long as 5-2-9 remains underground, 2-2-1 can't electrocute him." 6-2-5 was correct. Left with little else to do, 2-2-1 stood there as he tried to think of a plan. As he stood there, he heard some strange sounds coming from nearby. It sounded like a landslide but the sound he was hearing was not a landslide but 5-2-9 digging underground. Without warning, 5-2-9 came bursting out of the ground right underneath 2-2-1. To 2-2-1, it was like stepping on a land mind. The ground underneath 2-2-1 simply exploded as 5-2-9's drill-like tail came bursting out of the ground. The force of the drill tossed 2-2-1 off the ground, the drill poking hard into his gut as if he was being hit by a spinning rock. 2-2-1 flew through the air and landed hard onto the concrete floor of the ring. Before 2-2-1 had a chance to get back onto his feet, 5-2-9 drilled back into the ground.

2-2-1 was now feeling nervous. His powers cannot affect 5-2-9 and not only that but 5-2-9 could strike without warning. Before 2-2-1 could come up with some way of countering 5-2-9, 5-2-9 once again burrowed up from underneath him and like before, 2-2-1 was once again tossed into the air by the sudden blow of 5-2-9's viscous tail. 2-2-1 flew through the air and landed hard onto the ground and before he could get back up, 5-2-9 once again disappeared underground.

2-2-1 growled in frustration. He was losing the fight and he was getting very irritated about it. Left with no other choice, 2-2-1 decided to unleash his full power. Struggling back onto his aching feet, 2-2-1 unleashed a huge wave of electricity in all directions. The audience gasped in shock as the entire arena was filled with some kind of an electrical field. In the shape of a large dome, electricity coursed through the air like a cage with lightening bolts for bars. It created large amounts of heat which made the arena very hot, especially for the experiments in the tournament sitting in the seats under the audience.

"Yikes, it looks like 2-2-1 is pulling out all the stops on this one," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. Indeed, that was 2-2-1's plan. There was so much electricity in the air that it caused hairs to stand on end. 4-0-5's fur was standing up on its own and 4-0-5 watched in amazement at the sight of his fur.

"I look like I was in a dryer," thought 4-0-5 to himself.

2-2-1 was beginning to grow tired of keeping the field up but he refused to give up. If he maintained this electricity long enough, it would paralyze 5-2-9 with a lightening strike of electricity no matter where 5-2-9 pops up, even if he burst out underneath 2-2-1. Maintaining the field was draining 2-2-1 rapidly but he was persistent and reluctant to drop the field. He could hear the sounds of 5-2-9 digging below and 2-2-1 was prepared to fight once he came out. What he didn't notice was that 5-2-9 was burrowing around under him but was not attacking. Instead of bursting out of the ground, he instead dug tunnels underneath 2-2-1, making the ground hallow under his feet. The ground became so thin that it couldn't support 2-2-1's weight and before he knew it, the ground underneath 2-2-1 collapsed. This took 2-2-1 by surprise, causing him to release his energy field as he fell into the hole.

2-2-1 fell into the hole where a cloud of dust awaited to swallow him from sight. The dust blinded 2-2-1 with a cloud that obscured his vision. He coughed a few times and before he could climb out of the hole, 5-2-9 burst out of the ground under him, tossing 2-2-1 clear out of the ground where he landed onto the concrete floor of the arena. He groaned in pain. His power spent and his strength drained, he crawled back onto his feet, knowing that he's too weak to go on. 5-2-9 leaped out of the hole and landed right next to 2-2-1. For a brief minute, the two stared at each other with a look of triumph on 5-2-9's face and a look of defeat on 2-2-1's face. With his massive claw, 5-2-9 struck 2-2-1 on the nose, knocking him onto his back. Once 2-2-1 was down for the count, the referee stepped in and began the countdown. The audience was holding their breaths as they watched to see if 2-2-1 would get up. 2-2-1 was conscious enough to hear the referee counting but he didn't bother to get up. He was too injured to continue the fight and his defeat was imminent. Once the referee had reached the count of ten, the audience cheered for 5-2-9 who was celebrating with the audience.

4-0-5 watched with some unease as 2-2-1's limp body was carried out of the arena on a stretcher. He knew that it would be his turn to fight after the next fight is over and he wasn't sure who he would be fighting or how tough the battle would be. His thoughts dwelled on this subject as several robots began fixing the damage made to the arena with incredibly fast speed. Once the arena was fixed to almost new, the next two combatants walked onto the stage. Experiment 6-0-1 (a.k.a. Kixx) and Experiment 5-1-3 (a.k.a. Richter).

"Oh, this fight will prove to be interesting if not brief," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "As you all now, 6-0-1 is a martial arts experiment who is built to pound enemies ever chance he gets. Will 5-1-3's earthquake powers be enough to take 6-0-1 down? The referee is going to ring the bell so lets sit back and find out."

The two combatants stood behind the red lines, ready for a show down. The two looked like they were prepared to rip each other's face off judging by the way they stared at each other. The bell rang and 5-1-3 immediately slammed the floor of the ring with his tail, causing a brief earthquake followed by a huge crack forming on the ground. The crack was growing towards 6-0-1 who quickly leaped to the side as the crack opened up underneath him. Unfazed by the near escape, 6-0-1 countered the attack by leaping into the air and landing right in front of 5-1-3, taking him by surprise. 6-0-1 gave 5-1-3 a hard uppercut to the jaw which knocked 5-1-3 off his feet and onto his back. 6-0-1 reached for 5-1-3's tail but 5-1-3 reacted quickly by whacking 6-0-1 in the face with his tail. The force was so strong that 6-0-1 was knocked onto his back and laid there in a daze.

The audience cried cheers and boos at 5-1-3 for striking 6-0-1 like that. Ignoring the catcalls, 5-1-3 got back onto his feet then lifted his tail and was about to slam it onto 6-0-1's chest but 6-0-1 saw the attack coming and immediately rolled to the side just in time. 5-1-3 slammed the ground again with his tail, causing an earthquake followed by another crack that began to grow towards 6-0-1. 6-0-1 quickly leaped into the air with a mighty stride. He soured through the air, clear over 5-1-3's head, and landed right behind him with cat-like grace. 6-0-1 immediately spun around and grabbed 5-1-3 by the tail.

5-1-3 fought desperately to escape 6-0-1's grasp but 6-0-1 was far more stronger than he was. With all the strength 6-0-1 could manage, he lifted 5-1-3 with his tail and began spinning around. Shouts and cheers could be heard for 6-0-1 from the audience as he continued to spin like a top with 5-1-3 spinning helplessly pinned by the centrifugal forces. Eventually 6-0-1 released his grip on 5-1-3 and he sailed through the air and landed hard onto the concrete ground just outside the ring.

"You're out," announced the referee and the crowd cheered for 6-0-1 in a loud uproar.

Now that the fight between 6-0-1 and 5-1-3 was over, 4-0-5 was now shaking with tension. His fight was up next and he was anxious to get it over with. Once 6-0-1 left the ring, several maintenance robots began repairing the cracks put into the floor of the arena. The robots worked at blinding speed until the arena looked as good as new. After only five minutes, the repairs to the arena were complete and 6-2-5 said over the speakers, "We're already half way through round two and so far, these fights have been brutal. However, it's not even close to being over because next up is Experiment 4-0-5 vs. Experiment 4-8-2." Like before, there were rude catcalls aimed at 4-0-5 as he stepped out into the open after he was introduced by 6-2-5. As for his opponent, the audience were giving cheers and whistles to her as she stepped onto the arena with 4-0-5 joining her.

5-6-4 watched nervously from her seat as the two experiments stood behind the two red lines drawn on the arena. Experiment 4-8-2 (a.k.a. Replica) is an experiment that can replicate herself repeatedly as many times as she wants. 5-6-4 could remember from the first round how 4-8-2 replicated herself so many times that she had swamped her opponent with shear numbers. 5-6-4 wanted to remain confident but she new this wasn't going to be an easy fight for her best friend.

"As you may remember from round two, Experiment 4-8-2 can make as many copies of herself as she wants and the rules state that 'an experiment is out of the fight when his or her actual body leaves the ring.'" Explained 6-2-5 over the speakers. "This means that in order to defeat 4-8-2, 4-0-5 would have to paralyze or remove the actual 4-8-2 out of the ring. To be fare, all of 4-8-2's clones must disappear if they are paralyzed or out of the ring in order for the referee to determine if the actual 4-8-2 has lost. 4-8-2's last opponent didn't stand a chance. Lets see how well 4-0-5 can do against 4-8-2."

As 4-0-5 waited for the fight to start, he ignored all the taunts he could clearly hear from the audience. Obviously there was some skepticism about his chances of success. Even 4-8-2 looked cocky as she grinned at him as if she was about to take part in the most easiest victory of her life. She casually stood there, running her claws through her bright orange fur as if she was trying to look good for her public. 4-0-5 had all his extra appendages fully extended, including his secondary arms which were tipped with sharp claws. He raised his four arms, ready to pounce once the signal was heard.

The bell rang and 4-0-5 charged at full speed towards 4-8-2 with all four of his claws fully extended. Using the force of his momentum, he raised his claw and he gave a good swing down upon 4-8-2 with all his strength but the attack was futile. 4-8-2 had created a copy of herself and when she and her clone split in two, the two separated from the spot where 4-8-2 was originally standing and 4-0-5's claws simply passed harmlessly in-between the two. The claw slashed the ground with a loud "clang" as metal cut into the concrete floor. Before 4-0-5 could pull his claws out of the ground, 4-8-2 replicated, creating four 4-8-2s, all of them had 4-0-5 surrounded. 4-0-5 slashed at one of the clones and when he struck it, it vanished in a puff of orange smoke but the three remaining 4-8-2s replicated again. Before 4-0-5 knew it, he was surrounded by six then twelve 4-8-2s. The situation was not improving.

5-6-4 could only watch helplessly as 4-0-5 was quickly being over powered by an army of clones. 4-8-2 and her many clones were replicating themselves using a bizarre form of fission. 4-8-2 was creating clones faster than 4-0-5 could destroy them. Although 4-8-2 wasn't as fast or as well trained in hand-to-hand combat as 4-0-5, she easily had the upper hand thanks to her ability to outnumber 4-0-5. 4-0-5's four arms were slashing everywhere in all directions as he was quickly surrounded by at least two dozen replications and more were developing. Although each of the clones disappeared with every slash 4-0-5 had put into them, two more would take their place. All around him, 4-0-5 was overwhelmed by the shear numbers that surrounded him and all the while, 4-0-5 could not tell which one was the original.

Up until now, 4-0-5 had been able to fend off the clones but it wasn't long before one clone managed to deliver a good karate kick to 4-0-5's back and before he could counter the attack, another clone punched him in the face followed by another who kicked him in the stomach. The clones were swarming him with a bombardment of kicks and punches. 5-6-4 gasped hi horror as she watched her best friend being pounded by the attacking clones. Knowing he was too vulnerable here, 4-0-5 leaped over the heads of the clones with amazing strength, he landed effortlessly onto the head of one of the clones then immediately he proceeded to leap to the next one. Hoping from clone to clone, he made his way past the crowd of clones and landed onto the concrete floor outside the crowd. Many of the clones groaned in pain at having their heads stomped on by 4-0-5. Angered, the clones ran a beeline towards 4-0-5. As he saw the clones approach him, 4-0-5 was beginning to become nervous. He realized that these clones can replicate themselves quickly, faster than he can destroy them and for as long as the clones can still overwhelm him with shear numbers, he cannot distinguish the clones from the original. 4-0-5's heart sank as he realized that his chances were not looking so good….


	8. Round Two Part 2

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 8: Round Two Part 2

5-6-4's heart was pounding with tension as she watched 4-0-5 being pounded by 4-8-2's clones. 4-0-5 fought desperately to drive them away but the clones had already begun to swarm him like flies. 4-0-5 could barely defend himself since attacks were coming from all directions. Eventually, one clone managed to knock him off balance using a foot swipe to 4-0-5's left leg. As 4-0-5 quickly regained balance, a clone pounced on his back and before he could shake the clone off himself, another clone leaped on top. Before 4-0-5 could escape, all the clones began piling on top of him in a huge dog pile, pinning 4-0-5 under several pounds of weight and holding him there.

4-0-5 struggled to break free but with so many of 4-8-2's clones on top of him, he could barely move and he could barely see through the forest of bodies that piled on top of him. As he sat there, pinned to the ground, one of the clones leaned over and whispered into his ear, "It is inevitable." From the audience, 5-6-4 was staring at the pile of clones on top of 4-0-5 in shock. As if 4-0-5 could hear her, 5-6-4 whispered, "Come on, get out of there." Desperate to escape, 4-0-5 decided to use one of his most difficult moves.

He extended all four of his metal sharp claws and with all the strength he could manage, he performed a type of drill move which involves leaping into the air with all of his claws raised and drilling upwards. It's a difficult move, especially under these circumstances, but the spinning action is what he needs to penetrate through the mound of bodies on top of him. It took all the strength he could managed but he shot up through the pile of clones like a spinning rocket, causing them to be tossed in all directions as if the pile of clones had suddenly exploded. 4-0-5 was warn out from the effort but he was free and now standing in a clear space in the ring where he had just tossed the clones.

All the clones that fell out of the ring disappeared while the remaining clones growled with anger and then proceeded to create more clones. 4-8-2 was replicating herself right before his eyes and 4-0-5 didn't know what to do.

"This is impossible," thought 4-0-5 to himself. "There's too many of them and I can't tell which one is the original. Come on, 4-0-5, think of something. There is got to be some weakness in her strategy. Think, 4-0-5. If I had the power to create copies of myself, how would I use it?" The clones were already beginning to gather around 4-0-5 as he racked his brain, trying to figure out how he could use 4-8-2's tactics to his advantage. Suddenly, a revelation dawned on him.

"Wait a minute," thought 4-0-5 to himself, "if I had 4-8-2's powers, I would send my clones to do all the dirty work while leaving myself out of harms way. If 4-8-2 is using this same tactic, that would mean that the one who is not fighting is the 'real' 4-8-2." Now with hope of actually winning the fight, 4-0-5 quickly scanned the sea of clones, searching for anyone of them that was not approaching him. However, the clones were gaining fast so 4-0-5 immediately leaped into the air with amazing power and he landed onto the shoulder of one of the clones. He balanced himself onto the clone's shoulder and then scanned the ring for any signs of the real 4-8-2. The clone he stood on was beginning to collapse under 4-0-5's weight while the other clones were beginning to claw at his feet. As he searched, he noticed one of the 4-8-2s standing in the middle of the crowd of clones towards the edge of the ring. She was just standing there as all the other clones ran past her. 4-0-5 grinned to himself. He now knew his "real" target.

Suddenly, the clone 4-0-5 was standing on disappeared in a puff of smoke and 4-0-5 fell into the waiting arms of the other clones. 4-0-5 extended his claws and as he fell, he managed to spin his body around and inflict a good long slash into all the clones within reach. Those clones disappeared, leaving a small space for 4-0-5 to land into. Once there, he quickly rolled into a ball and then plowed through the crowd of clones, tossing them to the side like a bulldozer driving through a pile of beach balls. 4-0-5 rolled as fast as he could through the clones, mercilessly knocking or running over any clone that got in his way. Three clones formed a barrier by wrapping their arms around each other's necks in an attempt to block 4-0-5's path but 4-0-5 leaped over the heads of the three clones. As he sailed through the air curled into a ball, he noticed that the 4-8-2 that wasn't fighting was only three yards away to his right. Knowing that he was almost there, 4-0-5 immediately bounced off the head of one of the clones and then ricocheted of the clone and flew towards 4-8-2, catching her by surprise.

4-0-5 landed onto a small area where there wasn't a clone in his way. He landed right next to the 4-8-2 that wasn't fighting and he then swung his fist towards her and punched her in the nose. 4-8-2 cried out in pain and shock as she grabbed her nose. She let go of her nose to reveal a few drops of pink colored blood oozing from her nose. For a moment, 4-0-5 felt bad for strike a girl like that but he quickly shrugged it off, deciding to apologize to her later. Right now, he had the upper hand. Although the clones disappear after striking them, this one did not which means that 4-0-5 had found the real 4-8-2.

Realizing that she had been discovered, 4-8-2 immediately turned around and ran through the crowd and 4-0-5 quickly followed. Clones everywhere began crowding around 4-0-5 but 4-0-5 extended his claws and cut the clones in half, causing them to disappear. Before more clones could take their place, 4-0-5 lunged for 4-8-2 and grabbed her by the ankles, knocking her face first into the concrete ground. 4-0-5 quickly got back onto his feet and then swung 4-8-2 by her ankle like a bat, nearly striking one of the clones. The clone immediately leaped backwards as her original nearly hit her. 4-0-5 then proceeded to spin around like a top, allowing 4-8-2 to spin helplessly as the centrifugal forces caused her to flail like a helpless fish. The other clones could don't approach 4-0-5 because if they did, they would be struck by the real 4-8-2. 4-0-5 spun faster and faster until he finally let go of 4-8-2 and tossed her clear over the heads of her clones. 4-8-2's cries could be heard as she sailed through the air and landed hard onto the ground just outside the ring.

Realizing she was outside the ring, 4-8-2 attempted to walk back into the ring before anyone noticed but before she could take two steps, the referee shouted, "This one did no disappear which means 4-8-2 is out and her opponent is victorious.

"Oh blitznak!" shouted the clones before they all disappeared in a puff of orange smoke. Loud cheers could be heard from the audience as they all cheered for 4-0-5's victory and out of surprise. Indeed, 4-0-5's victory was a surprise for everyone, except for 5-6-4 who was standing on her feet shouting and cheering for 4-0-5. She knew in her heart that 4-0-5 was going to win but none the less, she was relieved to see him win. 4-0-5 didn't hear her cheers but figured she was cheering for him none the less. 4-0-5 turned around and left the arena so the next combatants could come out to fight.

The next fight in the tournament once again uses the battle tank from the previous round. Like before, the tank flew high over the stadium and then fitted itself gently onto the arena. The tank was then filled with water by the blimp that glided behind it. The robotic lifeguards that looked like large flies began circling the tank as it was filled. The two experiments that are going to use this tank is 5-0-1 (a.k.a. Yin) and experiment 6-0-2 (a.k.a. Sinker) who were air lifted by the flying bodyguards and then placed onto two separate platforms that were anchored by a long pillar running down to the bottom of the tank. The two aquatic experiments now stared at each other from across the few yards of water that separated the mattress-sized platforms they stood on. 5-0-1 dipped his tentacles into the water and began sucking up water, his body growing as he filled up with water like a balloon. Meanwhile, 6-0-2 dipped his head forward so that his massively long fin was pointing towards 5-0-1.

By the time the bell rang, 5-0-1 was filled to the max with water and he quickly expelled that water by firing it through three of his tentacles like a fire hose at 6-0-2, leaving one tentacle submerged so it could continuously supply him with water. However, 6-0-2's hydrodynamically designed body was capable of allowing the water to pass easily along his sleek body. He used his fin to cut the water as it was spewed towards him and the water easily slid off him, spreading the water everywhere and reducing the force of the water.

"Looks like 5-0-1 is in a bit of a jam here," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "His water cannons don't seem to have any affect on 6-0-2." Determined to spray 6-0-2 out of the tank, 5-0-1 removed his remaining tentacle out of the water then relentlessly sprayed water at 6-0-2 using all four tentacles but it didn't have any affect on 6-0-2.

After expending so much water and without a tentacle sucking up more water for him, 5-0-1 quickly ran dry. Now that his opponent was empty, 6-0-2 took the opportunity to dive into the water. Through the glass walls of the tank, 4-0-5 could see 6-0-2 circling the platform 5-0-1 was standing on like a shark, his fin just inches from the surface of the water. 5-0-1 quickly dunked all four tentacles into the water and began sucking up more water. However, before he could fill himself entirely, 6-0-2 leaped out of the water behind 5-0-1 and sailed over the platform and slammed right into 5-0-1's back. The two experiments fell forwards into the water with a loud splash.

"Looks like 6-0-2 wants to take this fight underwater," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. Everyone's eyes were now on the tank as they all watched the battle inside.

6-0-2 swam to the bottom of the tank as 5-0-1 began to sink slowly to the bottom. 5-0-1 was at a bit of a disadvantage here. Although he was an aquatic experiment who can survive underwater, he wasn't a good swimmer. Underwater, he can only swim very slowly by undulating his body and swimming like a jelly fish. Not to mention his ability to spray water is useless when he's underwater. Fighting desperately to get back onto the surface, 5-0-1 swam to the platform but he didn't get far because at that moment, 6-0-2 shot up towards 5-0-1 like a torpedo and struck 5-0-1 with such force that it tossed him clear out of the water where he landed hard onto the water's surface. Bruised and vulnerable, 5-0-1 desperately swam to the platform but before he could get far, 6-0-2 once again charged him from under the water and he was struck with such for that he sailed clear out of the water and came crashing down onto the surface of the water once again. At this point 5-0-1 was a little dazed by the attack which gave 6-0-2 the chance to scoop him up with his large fin and with a good flick of his head, 6-0-2 tossed 5-0-1 out of the water and over the edge of the tank where he was caught by one of the lifeguard robots.

"Wow, 6-0-2 total pulverized 5-0-1," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "The winner, 6-0-2." The crowd cheered with joy, chanting 6-0-2's numbers over and over again as they celebrated his victory. In gratitude of their support, 6-0-2 began performing for the audience like a trained killer whale, leaping and splashing around the tank.

After 6-0-2 was removed from the tank, the water was sucked out and then the tank was air lifted out of the arena. With the tank removed, the next two combatants came onto the arena to fight. They were Experiment 5-2-3 (a.k.a. Slushy) and Experiment 6-1-7 (a.k.a. Plasmoid).

"This should be interesting," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "5-2-3 uses the power of ice while 6-1-7 uses a large plasma cannon on his tail. Will the heat of 6-1-7's plasma melt 5-2-3's ice or will he be frozen solid instead? Lets find out."

The two combatants stood behind the red lines, staring each other as if they were planning on tearing each other's faces off. The crowd above was cheering loudly for the two experiments. The bell rang and 5-2-3 took the first move with a strong blast of ice cold air. The frozen air created a thick wall of ice in-between 6-1-7 and 5-2-3, shielding its creator from 6-1-7. Undaunted, 6-1-7 fired a plasma ball from his tail and the plasma struck the ice wall with a loud combination of sizzling melted water and plasma eating through it like acid. Each shot was so powerful and so hot that it was easily breaking through the barrier. After only three shots, the ice wall had shattered into pieces.

Surprised at how well 6-1-7 was able to shatter his wall, 5-2-3 quickly fired a puff of cold air at 6-1-7 but 6-1-7 responded by firing a plasma ball at the cloud. The cloud was melted as the hot plasma ball passed through it. The plasma struck 5-2-3 in the chest, causing 5-2-3 to shatter into a pile of ice cubes. There were some gasps from the audience at the sight. Seeing that 5-2-3 was in pieces, the referee began counting but before he could count past one, the ice cubes quickly reassembled themselves back into 5-2-3's shape, bringing him back in one piece and ready for action. 5-2-3 quickly used his cold breath to form a bat made out of ice. 6-1-7 fired a plasma ball from his tail and when 5-2-3 tried to swat it with his bat, the plasma ball struck the bat and shattered it into ice crystals.

5-2-3 was surprised at how well 6-1-7 could shatter his ice creations so easily but he didn't have time to think about it because at that moment, 6-1-7 fired a plasma ball at 5-2-3. 5-2-3 quickly blew cold air onto the ground he stood on, allowing himself to be jet propelled into the air like a rocket, just barely dodging the plasma as it flew past him. This move took 6-1-7 by surprise and as 5-2-3 fell back down, he exhaled a cloud of cold air onto 6-1-7, forming a huge block of ice which held 6-1-7 inside like a mosquito trapped in a piece of amber. 6-1-7's look of surprise was frozen in time within the ice prison.

"Oh, 6-1-7 is down," announced 6-2-5. "Will he melt his way out of this situation?" As 6-2-5 talked, the referee began counting to ten and the audience was watching in anticipation. While trapped within the ice, 6-1-7 knew that the countdown had begun even though he could not hear or see the referee. Desperate to escape, 6-1-7 began melting the ice with his tail but with no space to move around in, 6-1-7 couldn't fire a ball of plasma to free himself. The little bit of plasma he could produce wasn't nearly good enough and by the time the referee reached the count of ten, he was out of the game and 5-2-3 was victorious once again.

The tournament's maintenance robots went to work cleaning off all the plasma and ice on the arena. Once the mess from the previous battle was cleaned up, the next two combatants walked onto the arena; Experiment 5-2-5 vs. 2-3-1. 4-0-5 growled to himself as he watched 5-2-5 strutting to the arena in his usual show-off manor. Almost every female experiment was cheering for 5-2-5, screaming compliments to him as if he was their favorite rock star. 2-3-1 (a.k.a. Fist) was not as fat headed as 5-2-5 was. He remained focused upon his opponent, knowing that his large fists wont be able to do much damage to 5-2-5.

The two experiments got behind the red lines in the arena, staring each other down like all the other contestants before them. When the bell rang, 2-3-1 ran towards 5-2-5, charging at full speed with his fists raised to knock 5-2-5 into submission and 5-2-5 just stood there as if he was ignoring 2-3-1. The audience gasped as 2-3-1 threw his fist towards 5-2-5 but as soon as the fist made contact, 5-2-5 broke to pieces. The hundreds of little blocks that made up 5-2-5's body separated from each other, rendering the attack futile as the fist only pushed the blocks aside.

The blocks immediately separated from one another and began flying around like a swarm of flies. The blocks came together and formed a pair of strong rectangle-shaped handcuffs which bounded 2-3-1's hands together. The handcuffs forced 2-3-1 to the ground and held him pinned. 2-3-1 tried to break free but 5-2-5's grip was too strong. Only half of 5-2-5's blocks were used to form the cuffs. The remaining half reassembled themselves into the shape of a boot which began kicking 2-3-1 in the butt repeatedly. The audience roared with laughter at this display and 2-3-1 could only blush in embarrassment after being humiliated like this.

After kicking 2-3-1 a few times, the cuffs then lifted 2-3-1 into the air, dangling 2-3-1 helplessly over the arena by his wrists. 2-3-1 fought desperately to escape but 5-2-5 still held him in a vice grip. Dangling by his wrist was starting to become painful and 2-3-1 was just about to order 5-2-5 to let him go when suddenly, the cuffs broke to pieces and without the cuffs suspending him, 2-3-1 fell to the ground. He landed hard onto his feet but after falling ten feet of the ground, the landing was hard on his ankles.

As 2-3-1 stood there, attending to his soar ankles, 5-2-5 assembled all his pieces into a huge round boulder. The boulder came crashing down at full force onto 2-3-1's head, painfully bruising him. As 2-3-1 stood there in a daze, 5-2-5 assembled himself into the form of a hand. The hand grabbed 2-3-1 by his soar ankles and the hand began to spin, dangling 2-3-1 helplessly as he was pinned by the centrifugal forces. The hand eventually let go and 2-3-1 was flung through the air and he landed hard just outside the arena.

"The winner, 5-2-5," announced the referee and the audience was cheering like crazy and, like always, 5-2-5 was showing off to the audience by performing a few transformations. 4-0-5 reluctantly watched 5-2-5 show off in front of the audience, Becoming even more irritated by how much of a show off 5-2-5 was.

"What I wouldn't give to wipe that smirk off his face," thought 4-0-5 to himself.

Once 5-2-5 left the arena (much to the disappointment of the female members of the audience), 6-2-5 began to talk again.

"Well, we've finally reached the last battle of the second round," echoed 6-2-5's voice over the speakers. "After that will be round three and after that, the tournament will continue tomorrow to allow our four remaining combatants time to rest. Now, to end the second round, here's Experiment 5-6-9 vs. Experiment 5-2-8." The audience cheered as the two experiments stepped onto the arena. 5-6-9 is s hallucination experiment named "Mirage" while his opponent, 5-2-8, is a wind conjuring experiment named "Tornadra." The two experiments stepped behind the red lines, facing each other and ready to fight. 5-2-8 stared at 5-6-9 with a look of determination on her face. She vowed she would not fall for anyone of 5-6-9's illusions and she kept repeating that vow over and over in her mind. Meanwhile, 5-6-9 just stared at his opponent as he thought of plans to use against his opponent. He knew he was at a disadvantage here because his hallucinations wont stop 5-2-8 from creating a tornado or a wind that can blow him away, no matter what illusion he creates, unless…

An evil grin crossed 5-6-9's face as a sneaky plan occurred to him. He knew just how to defeat 5-2-8.

The bell rang, signaling the fight. 5-2-8 was the first to attack by extending her hand and from her hand, she created a strong gust of wind which took 5-6-9 by surprise. 5-6-9 tumbled backwards as the force of the wind knocked him down, dragging him across the concrete floor where he landed just a few feet away. 5-6-9 seemed a bit dazed as he climbed back onto his feet. Wanting to get him before he counterattacks, 5-2-8 began to conjure a huge tornado around herself. The air around her began to spin; faster and faster the wind traveled until it was strong enough to lift 5-6-9 into the air. 5-2-8 could hear the audience cheering for her through the loud noise of the wind, giving her confidence as she continued to watch her opponent flail helplessly in the wind. Knowing she had the upper hand, she increased the speed of the tornado, carrying 5-6-9 helplessly higher and higher over the heads of the audience. It wasn't long before the tornado finally let go of 5-6-9 and he was tossed into the air where he landed hard onto the concrete ground outside the ring and there he laid unconscious.

The crowd cheered loudly for 5-2-8 who had deactivated her tornado and was waving to the audience with joy. She flew out of the arena, waving to the audience as she did, but once she left the ring, the cheers of the audience abruptly stopped and 5-2-8 suddenly heard 6-2-5's voice over the speakers saying, "Oh no, 5-2-8 has just left the ring during a fight. That's an automatic disqualification." 5-2-8 was confused.

"What? I just defeated 5-6-9," thought 5-2-8 to herself. She turned her head in the direction where 5-6-9 had fallen but he wasn't there. After scanning the area, she realized that 5-6-9 was standing in the middle of the arena, completely uninjured and grinning evilly at her. Suddenly, 5-2-8 realized what had happened. It was all an illusion. 5-6-9 had planted an illusion into 5-2-8's mind, making her think that she was winning but in reality, 5-6-9 was not in the tornado but was standing just a few feet away from her, using his powers to lead her to believe that she was winning in order to trick her into leaving the ring during the fight. 5-2-8 couldn't believe that she had fallen for 5-6-9's tricks and she left the arena crying.

The audience cheered for 5-6-9 as he left the arena. Meanwhile, 6-2-5 began to speak.

"Wow, I don't know what happened but I bet it has something to do with 5-6-9's illusions," said 6-2-5's voice over the speaker. "Well, that marks the end of round two and with only three more rounds left in the tournament, we are really starting to heat up. As we wait for the next round to begin, please put your hands together for 3-4-5 who will be performing the half-time show." With that, Experiment 3-4-5 (a.k.a. Elastico) stepped out onto the stage and using his rubber-like body, he began to perform for the audience. As he performed, many of the experiments from the audience made their way from their seats and off to the halls to use the bathrooms or to get some snacks. As for the experiments in the tournament, they too left their seats to stretch their legs and prepare for the next round.

Author's Note: That fight scene between 4-8-2 (Replica) and 4-0-5 includes a parody of "The Matrix Reloaded." 4-8-2 parodies Agent Smith, 4-0-5 parodies Neo, and 5-6-4 parodies Trinity. I'm not a Matrix fan myself but under the circumstances, it just seemed natural to put that joke in.


	9. Round Three and a Major Setback

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 9: Round Three and a Major Setback

As the halftime show was nearing its end, experiments were already getting into their seats, ready to see the third round. 5-6-4 was so anxious that she had to run to the bathroom again and it wasn't very easy to do that since there was already a crowd even before she left her seat. She finally got a chance to get back into her seat five minutes before the halftime show ends. Meanwhile, Experiment 6-0-4 (a.k.a. Houdini) sat down onto his own seat located right behind 5-6-4 just a level above her seat. After two rounds, 6-0-4 had eaten all of his snacks and had drank all of his soda. Now he was back with another lap full of popcorn, hot dogs, sandwiches, and a large Coca-Gullock soda. 6-0-4 placed the bright red colored soda in-between his legs as he balanced all his other snacks in his arms. Both 5-6-4 and 6-0-4 waited anxiously for the fight to start.

"Welcome back," said 6-2-5's voice over the speakers. "Now that everyone has had their refill of junk food, it is time to begin the third round." The audience cheered with joy. Excited cheers and chants were heard everywhere as experiments sat in anticipation for the fight. "As you may know, we are at the midpoint of the tournament. After this, the four remaining contestants will face each other for the title of champion in the fourth and fifth rounds. The first two experiments to start round three will be Experiment 5-2-3 vs. Experiment 5-2-9." There were cheers from the audience as the two experiments came out onto the arena. Experiment 5-2-3 (Slushy) and Experiment 5-2-9 (Digger) positioned themselves behind the red lines, ready to fight for the privilege of going to the fourth round.

When the bell rang, 5-2-9 began drilling into the ground by spinning like a top on his drill shaped tail. He burrowed into the ground, drilling so fast that he was completely underground before the blast of could air fired by 5-2-3 could cover 5-2-9 in frost. Thinking fast, 5-2-3 propelled himself into the air by blowing cold air onto the ground under him. As he did, his cold air created a huge block of ice just right where he had been standing. 5-2-3 landed onto the block of ice and stood there, waiting for 5-2-9.

5-2-9 attempted to drill underneath 5-2-3 like he had done with previous opponents but what he didn't anticipate was the ice. When 5-2-9 drilled through the ground, he ended up drilling through the ice, which gave 5-2-3 enough time to jump off the ice as 5-2-9 burst out of the top of the huge ice cube. As 5-2-9 stood on top of the ice cube he had just drilled through, 5-2-3 fired cold air from his mouth. Startled, 5-2-9 jumped out of the way but the could air got all over the left side of his body, covering half his body in cold frost which was freezing cold to 5-2-9.

Not wanting to give up, 5-2-9 began digging into the ground for another attack. Concerned that 5-2-9 wont fall for the same trick twice, 5-2-3 blew out some cold air and began spinning around, spewing could air in all directions. The audience watched in amazement as 5-2-3 produced a huge cloud of could air and that air formed a huge chunk of three feet thick ice that covered the entire arena. With all this ice covering the ground, 5-2-9 would have a hard time sneaking a surprise attack but there was a flaw in 5-2-3's plan. He had forgotten to cover the ground he was standing on in ice. Within the huge chunk of ice that 5-2-3 had created, there was a hole in the center where 5-2-3 was standing on and before he realized his mistake, 5-2-9 exploded right out of the ground underneath 5-2-3. The drill poked hard into 5-2-3's back, tossing him into the air where he landed hard onto the ice and shattered into pieces. This allowed 5-2-9 the chance to burrow back into the ground while 5-2-3 quickly reassembled himself.

Cursing angrily for making such a foolish mistake, 5-2-3 immediately filled the hole with ice. Now with the hole sealed, 5-2-3 waited for any sign of 5-2-9. For a long time, everything seemed quite. 5-2-3 stood there on the ice, watching and waiting for any sign of 5-2-9. Suddenly, 5-2-9 appeared but it didn't burrow to the surface. Instead of burrowing out of the ice like 5-2-3 had expected, 5-2-9 was burrowing inside the ice, creating long tunnels within it. 5-2-3 cautiously watched 5-2-9 as he burrowed through the ice. 5-2-3 expected 5-2-9 to come bursting out of the ice but instead, he burrowed many tunnels underneath 5-2-3, thinning the ice that 5-2-3 stood on. Before 5-2-3 realized what was happening, the ice collapsed and 5-2-3 fell into the ice tunnels.

He landed hard onto the piles of broken ice and the cold ice floor below him. 5-2-3 quickly got back onto his feet and that was when he saw 5-2-9 burrowing towards him at a fast speed. Thinking fast, 5-2-3 blew cold air towards his feet, rocketing himself into the air and out of harms way. 5-2-3 landed gracefully onto the hard cold ice and that was when he noticed 5-2-9 digging through the ice towards him. 5-2-3 once again rocketed off the ground with his ice breath and soared high over the ice. 5-2-9 came bursting out of the ice right were 5-2-3 had been standing earlier. As he fell to the ground, 5-2-3 then exhaled cold air down upon 5-2-9 but he immediately burrowed back into the ground to avoid the attack.

The audience was on the edge of their seats as they watched the fight before them. After spewing so much ice, 5-2-3 was beginning to grow tired. 5-2-3 stood near the edge of the ice block where 5-2-9 had not burrowed into. He was panting as he waited for any sign of 5-2-9. Suddenly, 5-2-3 saw 5-2-9 burrowing out of the ground and threw the ice at a much more furious pace than before. It seems that 5-2-9 is getting more desperate to get at 5-2-3 judging by how quickly he was digging through the ice. 5-2-3 was about to jump out of the way when suddenly, he had an idea. It was a risky idea but he had to try it. He kept his eyes on 5-2-9 as he quickly drilled through the ice. People in the audience were screaming for 5-2-3 to get out of the way but 5-2-3 held his ground as the drill came closer and closer to him.

5-2-9 exploded out of the ice, the tip of his spinning drill jamming hard into 5-2-3's gut but he bared the pain as the force of the drill tossed him into the air and that was when he made his move. Using all the breath he could manage, 5-2-3 fired a cloud of cold air upon 5-2-9 and before he had the chance to escape, 5-2-9 was frozen in a huge cube of ice, freezing him upside-down just as he had dug right out of the ice. Blowing all that could air propelled 5-2-3 towards the center of the arena where he landed onto the hard ice ground. Injured and weak, 5-2-3 got back onto his feet to see his opponent still held paralyzed inside a chunk of ice.

The referee began counting to ten and everyone, even 5-2-3, was holding their breaths and saying their prayers. 5-2-9 didn't have enough room inside the ice in order to drill himself free so he couldn't get out even though he tried so hard. Once the referee counted to ten, the audience cheered with excitement, chanting 5-2-3's numbers over and over again as people screamed with excitement. 5-2-3 didn't have time to celebrate with them. He collapsed onto the floor of the ice, exhausted and injured. As he waited there for the medics to pick him up, 5-2-3 was relieved that he had won and was going to round four.

With the arena covered in ice, it took almost twenty minutes for the maintenance robots to melt and clean off the ice then fix the holes 5-2-9 had created. After the repairs were done, 6-2-5 said over the speakers, "Well folks, thank you for your patience. Cleaning up this mess is not easy but we try to maintain our schedule. Now that the arena is ready for action, lets give a hand to our next two combatants, Experiment 5-2-5 and Experiment 6-1-9." The audience roared with cheers and "5-2-5, we love you" remarks as Experiment 5-2-5 stepped out into the open. 5-2-5 was the center of attention and once again, he was milking it for all its worth. 6-1-9 (Splodyhead) stepped out onto the stage, forcing himself to ignore all the cheers and chants for 5-2-5.

The two experiments positioned themselves behind the line, facing each other as if they were in a vicious staring contest. The bell rang and 6-1-9 responded with a relentless assault of plasma from his noise. However, 5-2-5 easily avoided the attack by disassembling all of his little blocks so that the plasma could pass between them harmlessly. The little cube-shaped pieces flew into the air and reassembled themselves into the shape of a large box located over 6-1-9's head. The box fell towards 6-1-9 with the intent of crushing him but 6-1-9 lifted his head and fired a plasma ball at the box. The box immediately split in two, allowing the plasma to pass harmlessly between the two pieces. The two halves of the box came back together once the plasma passed and then the box smashed 6-1-9 in the head.

Cheers could be heard from the audience as 5-2-5 pulled off another one of his dissemblance tricks. The box remained on top of 6-1-9, crushing him under the pressure. 6-1-9 was too dazed by the blow to struggle free but he didn't have to because it wasn't long before 5-2-5 disassembled himself and then reassembled into his natural body shape. 6-1-9 struggled back onto his feet, groaning in pain.

"Oh, you are so pathetic," said 5-2-5 tauntingly. "Do you really think you have a chance against me? I'm last year's raining champion and it is my destiny to be champion again this year. You might as well give up and spare yourself the pain." 6-1-9's blood boiled with anger.

"How dare you talk as if you are 'almighty,'" said 6-1-9 before firing more plasma at 5-2-5 but 5-2-5 had responded by disassembling—allowing the plasma to pass through him harmlessly--and reassembling himself into the shape of a hammer. The hammer swung forwards and smashed into the ground where 6-1-9 had been standing earlier before he jumped out of its way. When the hammer missed his target, 5-2-5 directed the hammer towards 6-1-9 who began running as the hammer pounded the ground behind him.

The audience cheered and chanted as 5-2-5 chased 6-1-9 all around the arena. 6-1-9 ran as fast as his four legs could carry him but he was beginning to tire fast, not to mention he was still a little dizzy from that blow to the head. Knowing he can't run forever, 6-1-9 performed one of his most acrobatic moves. He leaped into the air and performed a back-flip over the hammer, missing it by mere centimeters. 6-1-9 landed right behind 5-2-5 and then fired several shots at the hammer but once again, 5-2-5 avoided the shots by disassembling into the pieces and the shots past through the swarm of flying cubes harmlessly.

5-2-5 reassembled himself into his natural form and said tauntingly, "Oh please, if I had a grandmother, she could shoot better than that." Angered, 6-1-9 fired a shot towards 5-2-5's head but 5-2-5 separated his head, allowing the plasma ball to pass through without striking its intended target. 5-2-5's head reconnected itself back onto his neck and he grinned mischievously. 6-1-9 fired more shots at 5-2-5's chest but 5-2-5's chest simply fell to pieces again and the shots missed. Desperate to hit 5-2-5, 6-1-9 was firing constantly in random directions but 5-2-5 easily dodged the attacks by tearing himself into pieces. The little cubes that made up 5-2-5's body easily dodged all the plasma that came their way as the cubes flew closer to 6-1-9 like a swarm of bees. The cubes got close enough to 6-1-9 to fly over and then behind him and then reform into a hammer. Before 6-1-9 could turn around to counter the attack, 5-2-5 smashed the hammer into 6-1-9's side, knocking him off his feet where he landed on the line that formed the boundaries of the ring. His head landed just outside the ring which was enough to declare him out of the game.

When the referee announced that 6-1-9 was out, the audience cheered with joy. Over the roar of the audience, 6-2-5 said, "Wow, 5-2-5 had totally creamed 6-1-9. Now 5-2-5, last year's champion, is going to be in round four of the Experiment Tournament." The noise from the audience was deafening when 6-2-5 announced that 5-2-5 was going to be in round four and, of-course, 5-2-5 was showing off his powers, much to the delight of all his female fans.

After 5-2-5 left the arena, the battle tank was once again air lifted over the stadium and placed onto the arena. The flying blimp filled the tank with water and once again, the robotic lifeguards began circling the tank.

"Once again we bring out the battle tank for this next fight," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "We have only one aquatic experiment left in the tournament. Will this be the last time we will use the battle tank or will the tank be used in the fourth round? Only one way to find out. Now, lets bring out our next two contestants, Experiment 6-0-1 and Experiment 6-0-2."

The two experiments stepped out into the open as the audience cheered for them. Experiment 6-0-1 (Kixx) was waving to the audience as one of the fly-like lifeguards airlifted him off the ground. On his face, 6-0-1 wore goggles and a breathing apparatus. Since 6-0-1 could not naturally breath water, he was given goggles and a breathing apparatus as part of the rules. The breathing apparatus looked like a breathing mask with a cylindrical device attached to it. The device was connected to the mask by its side, leaving the two ends of the cylinder to absorb the air out of water every time 6-0-1 dives underwater and it takes in nothing but outside air every time 6-0-1's out of the water so he wouldn't suffocate. Experiment 6-0-2 (Sinker) was also being lifted to the tank where he and his opponent was placed onto two separate platforms. Once the combatants were in place, they stared each other down, ready to fight.

Cheers for both 6-0-2 and 6-0-1 could be heard as the two experiments prepared for combat. 6-0-1 was a lot more stronger, bigger, and heavier than 6-0-2 was but 6-0-2 was not afraid. He was in a familiar environment and he felt confident that no "land-walker" would beat him here. When the bell finally rang, signaling the fight to begin, 6-0-1 leaped into the air with amazing strength. He was such a far jumper that he landed onto the neighboring platform, landing right in front of 6-0-2. The move was so fast and so unexpected that 6-0-2 was caught completely by surprise, allowing 6-0-1 the opportunity to deliver a strong uppercut to 6-0-2's jaw using two of his fists. The blow knocked 6-0-2 onto his side, his face bruised and his jaw sore. The crowd cheered for 6-0-1, amazed by how easily and quickly he had knocked his opponent to the ground.

6-0-2 laid there on the smooth floor of the platform, dazed by the blow. He attempted to get back up when suddenly, 6-0-1 gave him another uppercut which knocked 6-0-2 onto his back. 6-0-1 then attempted to kick 6-0-2 in the gut but 6-0-2 managed to roll over to the side and got back onto his feet but before he could counter attack, 6-0-1 karate kicked 6-0-2 in the chest, knocking him into the water with a loud splash. 6-0-2 didn't return to the surface. Instead, he took the opportunity to dive to the bottom of the tank.

For a while, 6-0-1 stood on top of the platform, watching 6-0-2 in the water. 6-0-2 swam along the bottom of the tank, circling the platform that 6-0-1 stood on. Everyone waited for 6-0-2 to make his move but it didn't look like he was going to do anything. 6-0-1 was going to consider diving in after 6-0-2 when all of sudden, the platform he was standing on began to become very wobbly. Before 6-0-1 knew what he was up to, 6-0-2 had used his long fin to cut the pillar that held up the platform 6-0-1 was standing on. The platform toppled over and 6-0-1 fell into the water with a loud splash.

The audience watched in shock as the platform and 6-0-1 sank into the water. Once the water made contact with 6-0-1's breathing apparatus, it immediately activated, allowing 6-0-1 to breath. Through his goggles, 6-0-1 saw 6-0-2 charging towards him like a missile. 6-0-1 reacted by grabbing onto 6-0-2's fin as the two collided. 6-0-2 rammed 6-0-1 into the side of the tank. Afterwards, 6-0-2 began swimming in reverse in order to back away from the wall and then rammed 6-0-1 into the tank walls again. He repeated the process but as he was going to ram 6-0-1 into the tank a third time, 6-0-1 turned his feet towards the wall and when he was rammed towards the wall, he landed onto his feet while still holding onto 6-0-2's fin, allowing him to stabilize himself so he could slam 6-0-2 against the wall like a rag doll. 6-0-2 was dazed by the blow, allowing 6-0-1 to use his powerful four arms to swim away.

6-0-2 came out of his daze and charged towards 6-0-1, determined to defeat him. 6-0-1 saw 6-0-2 coming and he turned around to face him. 6-0-2 was charging towards 6-0-1 like a torpedo and 6-0-1 was just holding his ground. When 6-0-2 was within range, 6-0-1 gave a strong uppercut to his jaw. The blow knocked 6-0-2 so hard, it sent him spirally through the tank. As 6-0-2 tried to regain his bearings, 6-0-1 swam to the bottom of the tank and, using his great strength, he lifted the severed half of the pillar. Underwater, lifting the large pillar was not at all hard for 6-0-1 and even though the underwater environment was disorienting for him, he carefully lifted it like a bat and steadied himself on the floor of the tank. When 6-0-2 finally recovered from that punch, he turned around and charged towards 6-0-1 but before he could get too close, 6-0-1 swung the pillar with all his strength, knocking 6-0-2 like a baseball. The force was so strong that it knocked 6-0-2 clear out of the water and outside the boundaries of the tank where he was caught by one of the fly lifeguards.

"The winner, Experiment 6-0-1," announced the referee. The audience cheered with joy at 6-0-1's victory. 6-0-1 swam to the single platform that had not been cut down and he climbed on to it. Through his water filled ears, 6-0-1 could hear the audience chanting his numbers over and over again. Pleased with himself about his victory, 6-0-1 pulled off his breathing apparatus and goggles and was cheering with the crowd until the lifeguards helped him out of the tank.

As the tank was emptied and airlifted out of the stadium, Experiment 6-2-5 began talking over the speakers. "Well folks, we are nearing the end of round three and with three fights down, that leaves our next fight our last for the day. After that, the fourth and fifth round will continue tomorrow. Now, lets put our hands together for our next two contestants, Experiment 4-0-5 and Experiment 5-6-9. As you know, Experiment 4-0-5 is the underdog who had amazingly managed to make it this far in the tournament. Will he make it to the fourth round? It wont be easy considering how easily 5-6-9 had used his illusions to trick his two previous combatants out of the ring. Lets see how these two can fare against each other." The audience cheered as 4-0-5 and 5-6-9 got into the arena. 4-0-5 positioned himself behind one of the red lines while his opponent got behind the other. Despite his winning streak, 4-0-5 was not about to get cocky. 5-6-9 is a powerful experiment, more tougher than anyone of 4-0-5's previous opponents. 4-0-5 had to be careful, he knew he couldn't trust everything he sees around 5-6-9. He had to pay close attention to any signs of an illusion.

5-6-9 stared at 4-0-5 with an evil looking grin on his face which was exaggerated by the zebra stripes that covered his entire face and body.

"This fight is going to be easy," said 5-6-9. 4-0-5 extended his extra arms, antennas, and quills as he prepared for the fight. The bell rang and as soon as it did, the scenery around 4-0-5 had changed. One minute, 4-0-5 was standing in the middle of a battle arena, the next he was standing in the middle of a forest similar to the one 4-0-5 was in during the simulation training. 4-0-5 knew that 5-6-9 had just put him under an illusion so he extended his claws in preparation for a sneak attack. The metal blades on the end of his fingers shined in the factitious sun light. 4-0-5 stood there, waiting for 5-6-9 to make his first move.

Meanwhile, 5-6-9 was standing only a few feet from 4-0-5, making sure he kept himself at a safe distance since he knew the destructive powers of those sharp claws. Knowing it would be too dangerous to attack directly without a distraction, 5-6-9 decided to distract 4-0-5 by having a tiger appear in the illusion. The created tiger caught 4-0-5 by surprise as it appeared seemingly out of thin air. The tiger pounced on top of 4-0-5 and held him pinned to the floor of the forest. 4-0-5 knew that the tiger was just an illusion but the tiger seemed very real none the less. The tiger was white except for some gray stripes all over its body. Its piercing yellow eyes stared down upon 4-0-5 as if the tiger could see into 4-0-5's thoughts. The tiger held 4-0-5 under its weight, holding him pinned to the ground. Its fetid breath hit 4-0-5's face every time the tiger breathed. From the audiences' perspective, 4-0-5 was lying on the floor of the arena as if he was fighting off an invisible foe. Some of the experiments were laughing loudly at this display. From her seat in the audience, 5-6-4 was nervously watching 4-0-5 as he was helplessly pinned to the ground.

"Come on, you can do it," thought 5-6-4.

With determination in his eyes, 4-0-5 grabbed onto the tiger's chest and then used all the strength he had to push that tiger off himself but it wasn't easy since the tiger held him with all its weight and 4-0-5 was way too close to those snapping jaws and sharp claws. With a cry of strain, 4-0-5 pushed the tiger off him enough to allow him to get onto his feet and once he was standing, he began wrestling the tiger as it clawed at him. 4-0-5 had to use all four of his arms in order to hold the tiger in place, leaving him with no way of attacking back. 4-0-5 was held in place as he fought desperately to keep the tiger off him.

5-6-9 watched as 4-0-5 fought his imaginary tiger. Now that 4-0-5's focus was on the tiger, 5-6-9 snuck up behind 4-0-5 and karate kicked him in the back of the head. At the same time, the tiger disappeared and the blow to the head knocked 4-0-5 face first into the muddy forest floor. Dazed from the attack, 4-0-5 struggled back onto his feet and began slashing the air with his claws where the attack came from, desperate to hit something. Of-course, 5-6-9 kept within a safe distance from 4-0-5 and 4-0-5 could not see him since he was still in 5-6-9's illusion.

Next, 5-6-9 created an illusional swarm of bees which began flying around 4-0-5. Like before with the tiger, 4-0-5 knew the bees weren't real but they felt real and so did their stings. 4-0-5 swat desperately at the bees as they continued to sting him repeatedly. As 4-0-5 fought the bees, 5-6-9 created an illusion that someone kicked 4-0-5 in the back. 4-0-5 thought he was being sneak attacked again but in reality, the attacks were an illusion. 4-0-5, ignoring the sting of the bees, spun around and began slashing the air where the attack came from. 4-0-5 suddenly felt another kick to his left and 4-0-5 spun around and slashed in the direction where the attack came from and suddenly, he found himself back in the arena.

The imaginary forest had disappeared and so did all those bee stings and tiger claw marks that covered 4-0-5 body. Instead, 4-0-5 was standing in the middle of the arena back in the Experiment Tournament and standing right where he had just slashed was Experiment 5-6-9 holding his stomach where 4-0-5 had cut him. Thinking that he had managed to cut 5-6-9 which forced him to release his illusion, 4-0-5 took the opportunity to continue punching 5-6-9 before he could conjure another illusion.

4-0-5 began punching and kicking 5-6-9 repeatedly, mercilessly striking 5-6-9 with every kick and blow 4-0-5 could manage. He was unaware, however, that the whole thing was an illusion. Like he had done before, 5-6-9 had created the illusion that his opponent was winning. In the illusion, 4-0-5 could not see that he was actually punching air instead of 5-6-9. The hallucination projected in 4-0-5's mind showed him that he was punching 5-6-9 repeatedly. As he did, the illusion showed the audience chanting 4-0-5's number over and over again which motivated 4-0-5 to continue his attack on the figment version of 5-6-9. In the illusion, 5-6-9 was bruised and beaten. He quickly turned around and began to run but 4-0-5 knocked him over with a good shove of his shoulder. 4-0-5 then picked up 5-6-9 by his legs and arms and then threw him towards the edge of the ring but he fell short. 4-0-5 ran over to finish off 5-6-9, unaware that if he gets too close, he would lose the fight….

Meanwhile, outside of 4-0-5's hallucination, the audience was watching and some were laughing at 4-0-5 as he continued to attack the air and getting ever more closer to the edge of the ring with every punch. Meanwhile, 5-6-9 stood from a safe distance.

"Oh no, it looks like 4-0-5 is under 5-6-9's illusion," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "Any closer to the edge of the ring and he will be out of the tournament." Experiments were sitting on the edge of their seats as they watched 4-0-5, especially 5-6-4 who was sweating with tension.

"Come on, 4-0-5, snap out of it," said 5-6-4 to herself.

Meanwhile, 6-0-4 was also on the edge of his seat, shoveling pop corn down his throat as he watched mesmerized by the fight below. 6-0-4 was unaware that the red colored soda that he held in his lap was beginning to tip due to him leaning forward and before he knew it, the entire cup of Coca-Gullock had fallen out of his lap and the red colored soda dumped itself all over 5-6-4, soaking her fur. 5-6-4 cried out in surprise as her fur was soaked in ice cold soda.

"Who did that?" demanded 5-6-4. Angered and dripping all over, 5-6-4 spun around to face 6-0-4 who had cowardly blinked his eyes in order to turn himself invisible and then ran off in fright, abandoning his pile of junk food.

Meanwhile, down in the arena, 4-0-5 was busy fighting 5-6-9 in the illusion. After several punches and kicks, the imaginary 5-6-9 was pushed mere feet away from the edge of the arena. Tired, 4-0-5 stopped delivering his viscous kicks and blows and when he stopped to look at 5-6-9, lying on the ground and badly bruised, he realized something.

"Wait a minute, 5-6-9 hasn't fought back the whole time I've been pounding on him," thought 4-0-5 to himself. "Infact, he hasn't attempted to block my attacks, return any attacks, or try and create another illusion." This realization struck 4-0-5 as odd. As the crowd cheered for 4-0-5, 4-0-5 began to grow suspicious. "I've never received this much positive feedback from the audience, not even when I got into the arena or defeated the other experiments in the previous rounds. Something's not right here" Smelling a trap, 4-0-5 held his ground as he had done before, not daring to move from the spot he stood on.

When 4-0-5 stopped attacking 5-6-9's illusional duplicate, 5-6-9 began to grow concerned that 4-0-5 may be onto his ruse. Hoping to regain 4-0-5's confidence, 5-6-9 allowed the illusional version of himself to fight back. 4-0-5 watched as the figment of 5-6-9 carefully got back onto its feet and began punching 4-0-5. 4-0-5 took several blows from the illusion and although the illusional pain he felt seemed real, 4-0-5 knew it was fake so he held his ground.

5-6-9 began to grow angry.

"Impossible, how did he discover that this was an illusion?" asked 5-6-9 to no one in particular. Now that his plan was ruined, he had to fight physically and he thought out loud how to do it. "If I deliver a good strong blow to his head, it would surely knock 4-0-5 unconscious but to do that, I must hit him just right with just the right amount of force." After debating his options, he decided to run towards 4-0-5 and then use the force of his momentum and the strength of his legs to leap into the air and karate kick 4-0-5 in the head. With his goal set in mind, 5-6-9 charged towards 4-0-5.

As 4-0-5 stood there enduring the attacks of the illusionary 5-6-9, something caught the corner of his eye and what it was flaw in 5-6-9's plan. Creating a realistic illusion requires a lot of focus and because 5-6-9's focus was more on knocking out 4-0-5 than maintaining the illusion, it was beginning to fail and 5-6-9's anger was also hindering the illusion. Out of the corner of his eye, 4-0-5 saw a faint glimmer of 5-6-9 coming right at him. 4-0-5 wasn't sure if this was one of 5-6-9's tricks but he knew he had to chance it. He kept one eye on the glimmer of 5-6-9's silhouette as he remained still.

As 5-6-9 got close enough to strike 4-0-5, he leaped into the air with his one leg outstretched, aimed for 4-0-5's head. What he didn't realize was that 4-0-5 saw the attack coming and with a quick turn of his body, the foot sailed right past him, missing its target. Seizing the opportunity, 4-0-5 extended his claws and then slashed at 5-6-9. 5-6-9 cried out in pain as the claws cut into his chest, canceling the hallucination entirely from 4-0-5's mind. 5-6-9 landed hard onto the floor of the arena, clutching his chest in pain. Pink colored blood oozed from three long cut marks that ran along his chest. Although the wound was only skin deep, he was bleeding and it hurt a lot.

As 5-6-9 laid there on the floor, clutching his chest in pain, 4-0-5 grabbed him by the neck and tail and then lifted him off the ground. Since 4-0-5 was so close to the edge of the arena, he ran towards it with the intent of throwing 5-6-9 out of the arena. As a last desperate act to save himself, 5-6-9 conjured an illusion in 4-0-5's mind. Before he knew it, 4-0-5 found himself trapped underwater. In the illusion, 4-0-5 was on the bottom of the ocean, walking slowly under the water with the surface high above his head and fish and sea weed surrounding him. 4-0-5 held his breath since, in his mind, he could not breath. Also, his eyes couldn't see with all the water around him and he was becoming disoriented. Knowing that this was all an illusion, 4-0-5 forced himself to avoid the natural urge to panic. In the water, he felt weightless but 4-0-5 assumed he was still on dry land in real life so he stopped running. He could no longer see 5-6-9 in his grasp but none the less, his hands still held tightly onto something, even though he couldn't see it. Running out of air and left with no other option, 4-0-5 threw his invisible captive through the air. As soon as he did, the illusion immediately ended and 4-0-5 found himself back in the ring, watching 5-6-9 sail through the air and land on his buttocks just outside the boundaries of the ring.

"You're out," said the referee. "The winner: 4-0-5." The audience cheered with amazement as paramedics came by and carried the bleeding 5-6-9 out of the area to be healed by 5-3-3 in the infirmary. Although it looked like he won, 4-0-5 wasn't sure if it was real or if it was one of 5-6-9's tricks so he stood there as if ready for battle. In the audience, 5-6-4 could see 4-0-5 standing there and even though she couldn't use her mind reading powers on 4-0-5 from this distance, she figured that he thought he was still in an illusion. Since he wasn't out of range for her telepathy, 5-6-4 telepathically said to 4-0-5, "Don't worry, you won." 4-0-5 was surprised to hear 5-6-4's telepathic voice in his head. He still wasn't sure if the voice was real or an illusion but his intuition told him it was real. Convinced that he had won, 4-0-5 raised his arms in the air and celebrated with all the amazed and excited audience members that were cheering for him.

After 4-0-5 left the arena, 6-2-5 said into the speakers, "Wow, that was an amazing fight. Once again, the underdog of the tournament has beaten his third opponent, placing him into the fourth round of the Experiment Tournament. I tell you folks, 4-0-5's bravery and skill has shown us all that you don't need fancy powers to succeed. All you need is the will to accomplish your goals and 4-0-5 has done just that. Now that the final match in round three is over, we shall clean up and continue the remainder of the tournament tomorrow. In round four, our combatants will be Experiments 4-0-5, 5-2-3, 5-2-5, and 6-0-1. All four of these combatants will battle each other for the winning crown. It is going to be an intense fight so don't miss it." The audience cheered loudly as, one by one, they left their seats. It was already past lunch time and for those experiments who didn't fill up on snacks and junk food, they were hungry and ready to go out for lunch. The buses waited outside the stadium as crowds of experiments got onto the buses for a ride home or a ride to a nearby restaurant.

However, 4-0-5 was not outside amongst the crowds. Instead, he was in the infirmary where Jumba had set up a feast for the experiments in the tournament. All 32 experiment were invited to the party, allowing them to sit on hospital beds and feast on a large meal prepared for the occasion. The table was covered from corner to corner with all sorts of delicacies from all over the galaxy including exotic meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, specially prepared fish, and all sorts of foreign snacks. Using a disposable plate and silverware, 4-0-5 began dining on some cooked bird from the Cleptloc solar system.

During the feast, the four experiments in the fourth round were showered with compliments and congratulations, especially to 4-0-5 who had never had so much positive attention from his fellow experiments:

"You were amazing."

"I didn't think you could make it this far."

"I guess we were wrong about you." 4-0-5 was receiving so much attention that he couldn't believe it. He had finally earned the respect of his fellow experiments. However, despite all the compliments, there was something that nagged at 4-0-5: where was 5-2-5? 4-0-5 had scanned the entire infirmary but there was no sign of 5-2-5 anywhere. Infact, he hadn't even come to the party. This puzzled 4-0-5 and he began to wonder if 5-2-5 was up to something. Suddenly, the door to the infirmary opened and in stepped Jumba who walked towards 4-0-5 as he was finishing a large bird leg. Jumba tapped onto 4-0-5's shoulder with his massive finger to get his attention. When 4-0-5 turned around to face his creator, he said to him, "4-0-5, we need to talk in my office."

Meanwhile, 5-6-4 was still in the building. She hadn't left to the buses like all the other experiments did. She wanted to go see 4-0-5 and congratulate him for his victory against 5-6-9 and for getting into the fourth round. However, 5-6-4 was still all wet and sticky with the soda that was spilt all over her so she decided to wash up before meeting 4-0-5 in the infirmary. She managed to find a girls' locker room in the building which, oddly enough, was rarely used, even during the tournaments. Since no one was inside, 5-6-4 decided to use the showers in the locker room. The green walls of the locker room matched the green lockers that took up much of the space of the locker room. 5-6-4 quickly found the bathroom which came complete with towels, sponges, and shampoo. The shampoo was a concoction made by Jumba. It was specially formulated for the care of an experiment's skin and fur and when 5-6-4 applied it to one of the soft sponges and began to lather herself with it, it emitted a soft fragrance that smelt very sweet to 5-6-4.

5-6-4 stood under one of the showers as it spread warm water onto her body. Using the shampoo and sponges 5-6-4 had found, she scrubbed gently at her fur, removing all the soda that was spilt on her. The soda came off surprisingly easy and after only fifteen minutes, 5-6-4 was cleaned up of all soda, restoring her fur back to its usual lavender hue.

5-6-4 dried herself off using one of the towels. Her fur was a little damp by the time she put the soaked towel away but she figured her fur would dry with time. She left the locker room and was surprised to see Jumba standing just outside the locker room, waiting for her. Surprised, 5-6-4 asked, "Jumba, what are you doing here?" Jumba didn't answer right away, nor did he look at her. His four eyes were pointed towards the west wing. Since 5-6-4 couldn't make eye contact with Jumba, all her telepathic powers could decipher was that something was troubling Jumba and it concerned her.

"5-6-4, I need you to step into my office, please," said Jumba. Bewildered by the request, 5-6-4 proceeded to follow Jumba through the hall, not sure as to what was going on.

5-6-4 was led to a large wooden door which had the words "Jumba's office" written on it in big bold letters. He opened the door and 5-6-4 stepped into a large office that looked more like a school principle's office with desks, chairs, and a filing cabinet. Sitting nearby, in wooden seats too big for them, was 5-2-5 and 4-0-5. 4-0-5 turned around and when he made eye contact with 5-6-4, 5-6-4's mind reading powers revealed that 4-0-5 was surprised to see 5-6-4 in the office and was also surprised to see her all wet. Her powers also revealed that 4-0-5 had been taken from the infirmary by Jumba and was sent to his office. He had no idea as to why. 5-2-5 kept his head away from 5-6-4 as she walked in but even though 5-6-4 couldn't see his face, she could still make out what looked to be a grin, as if he was up to something.

5-6-4 was given a seat next to 4-0-5. Jumba sat down into a large seat located right behind the desk. He kept his eyes low to the ground to avoid eye contact with 5-6-4. He then said to 4-0-5.

"4-0-5, what happened between you and 5-6-9 in today's fight?" asked Jumba softly. Surprised by the question, 4-0-5 asked, "What do you mean?"

"I'm meaning, how did you know that you were in an illusion?" asked Jumba. "We all saw how you stopped before you crossed the edge of the ring so you clearly knew that you were in an illusion. So how did you know?"

"Well, I was fighting the fake 5-6-9 and when I realized that he wasn't fighting back, I figured he must have been a fake," answered 4-0-5.

"Oh please," said 5-2-5 sarcastically. "Jumba, you don't honestly believe that 5-6-9, your greatest hallucination experiment, could possibly make a mistake like that?"

"I have to admit, it is rather unusual," said Jumba.

"Exactly, that's why I suspect there is more to 4-0-5's secret than what he's admitting," said 5-2-5.

"Just what are you implying?" demanded 4-0-5 defensively as he stood up from his seat.

"4-0-5, please sit back down," ordered Jumba. When Jumba spoke to 4-0-5, he turned his head towards him, accidentally making eye contact with 5-6-4 and when 5-6-4 read his mind, she gasped in horror at what Jumba was thinking.

Angered and horrified, 5-6-4 jumped out of her seat and said, "Jumba, I would never have done such a thing. I had nothing to do with 4-0-5's victory."

"What's wrong?" asked 4-0-5.

"5-2-5 told Jumba that he thinks that I had used my powers to tell you that you were in an illusion during the fight," said 5-6-4.

"What?!" shouted 4-0-5. "What's wrong about that?"

"The rules of the Experiment Tournament clearly states that an experiment cannot receive help from an outside source while a fight is in progress," explained Jumba. "If she did in fact tell you telepathically that you were under an illusion, then that would be considered helping a combatant during a fight and thus you both would be prosecuted for this crime."

"But how could she possibly do that?" demanded 4-0-5. "I was under an illusion."

"5-6-9's illusions can block out all five senses but his powers cannot filter out telepathy so it is possible," explained Jumba.

"But Jumba, you know 5-6-4 would never do such a thing," protested 4-0-5.

"Why not?" asked 5-2-5, pointing his stare towards 4-0-5 for the first time in that office. "Everyone knows how close you two are. I bet you two have been working together to cheat your way through the first three rounds."

"That's a lie!" shouted 4-0-5 as he jumped to his feet.

"Silence, both of you!" ordered Jumba and the two experiments said nothing more. Jumba calmly turned his four eyes towards 4-0-5 and said to him, "Now, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to go over the evidence. In the meantime, I want you and 5-6-4 here as I do so and as soon as I've seen all the evidence, I will then decide your guilt or innocence. I must warn you however, cheating in the tournament is a serious offense. If I find probable cause to believe that you did in fact receive help from 5-6-4 during the fight, then I have no choice but to expel you from the tournament." 4-0-5 got back into his seat, a look of total shock and disbelief was written all over his face. As he sat there, a single sentence was repeated over and over again in his head: "This can't be happening."


	10. Trial, Revenge, and Romance

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 10: Trial, Revenge, and Romance

5-6-4 was sitting in one of the seats in the stadium, looking down upon the empty rows of seats below. From the top row, 5-6-4 could see the entire stadium and how vast it looked from her seat. The stadium seemed so quiet compared to all the noise heard just an hour ago yet despite the gorgeous view, 5-6-4's thoughts were on her friend, 4-0-5. Jumba had aloud the two experiments time outside his office as he questioned some of the remaining contestants in the tournament. 5-6-4 spent that hour sitting on a hard wooden seat and staring down upon the empty stadium below, filled with anger towards 5-2-5. She knew that 5-2-5 was selfish and greedy but she never thought he would frame 4-0-5 for his own selfish gain. 5-6-4 had never felt so angry at anyone in her life. She just wanted to throttle 5-2-5 for what he had done and her thoughts surprised her since she was normally not a violent person.

Convinced that sitting there in the stadium wouldn't make her feel any better, 5-6-4 decided to go for a walk. She got up from her seat and then walked into the halls of the stadium, wondering the concrete halls that seemed just as empty and as silent as the stadium itself. 5-6-4 aimlessly ventured the halls until her journey led her to a men's locker room. There, she stopped when she suddenly heard the sound of someone behind the door. She pressed her long ear against the side of the door and she could hear clearly the sound of someone upset from the other side of the door. Curious and concerned, 5-6-4 opened the door, making sure no one saw her since she was sneaking into a men's room.

She entered the empty locker room which looked no different than the girl's locker room. Lined in-between the rows of lockers were large benches and sitting on the end of one of them was 4-0-5. He had his back towards 5-6-4 and he sat hunched over staring blankly at the floor under his feet. She walked up to him, being careful not to startle him, and when she got close enough to see her friend's face, she was shocked to see that 4-0-5 had been crying. His tear soaked cheeks revealed that fact. 4-0-5 gave no indication that he had noticed 5-6-4's approach. He instead continued to sit on that bench, sobbing quietly to himself.

5-6-4 was surprised to see 4-0-5 cry because, in the short time she had know him, not once did 5-6-4 had ever seen 4-0-5 cry nor did she know him as the type to show his emotions. Tears began to form in her own eyes as she watched 4-0-5 crying silently to himself. 5-6-4 sat onto the bench next to him and said, "I know how you feel. This is offal."

"I can't believe this," said 4-0-5 angrily. "Why is he doing this?"

"5-2-5 is trying to get you kicked out of the tournament so he could improve his own chances of winning," explained 5-6-4. "I read his mind. He knows that according to the rules, if an experiment is expelled from the tournament, the remaining rounds proceed without him. By removing you, that leaves 5-2-3 and 6-0-1 left to fight 5-2-5."

"But why doesn't 5-6-9 take my place and proceed to the next round?" asked 4-0-5.

"According to the rules, all victories and defeats are final once the match is officially over and nothing can change that," answered 5-6-4. "It's just the way how Jumba had arranged it and I guess he never thought he would be worrying about potential cheaters."

"I swear, if I get my hands on 5-2-5…" said 4-0-5 angrily.

"Violence is not the answer," said 5-6-4 feeling a little enraged herself about 5-2-5. "5-2-5 wants to win the tournament so he could maintain his image to the other experiments. That's what this is all about, wanting to look good in front of the other experiments." The room fell silent as 5-6-4's words held heavily in the air. 4-0-5 broke the silence by saying, "Maybe we could use that lie detector experiment, 0-3-2."

"Experiment 0-3-2 has already left the stadium with all the other experiments," said 5-6-4. "It will take hours to track him down and Jumba has to decide your guilt or innocence quickly so he could get to work preparing for the rest of the tournament tomorrow."

"Well, can we find any witnesses who saw you?" asked 4-0-5 desperately.

"Again, it will take time to track down all the experiments that were sitting next to me and even if they did see me, they still wouldn't be able to verify I hadn't used telepathy since I reveal no visible evidence when I use telepathy," explained 5-6-4. Out of frustration, 4-0-5 said nothing in return.

The two experiments said nothing more as they sat on that old bench, thinking to themselves of how they could prove 4-0-5's innocence. The two couldn't think of much so 5-6-4 decided to break the silence by saying, "Don't worry, 4-0-5," she said as she held 4-0-5's hand. "We'll think of something." 4-0-5 wiped a tear from his eyes using his free hand, being careful not to accidentally cut himself with his sharp claws. He said nothing in return but the appreciative smile on his face told 5-6-4 enough of what she needed to know. He held hands with 5-6-4, giving her hand a gentile squeeze in a sign of gratitude for her being there for him. Feeling tears drip from her eyes, 5-6-4 wrapped her arms around 4-0-5 and 4-0-5 wrapped his own arm around her. The two held each other in a gentile embrace, seeking comfort from one another.

It wasn't long before 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 had to leave the privacy of the locker room and head back into Jumba's office where 5-2-5 had been waiting for them. All three experiments waited in Jumba's office, not speaking a single word to each other, although 4-0-5 and 5-2-5 did stare at each other menacingly the whole time. Eventually, Jumba came into the room, his massive body taking up a lot of space within the small room. He sat back down in his chair behind his desk as the three experiments waited anxiously for Jumba to speak.

"Well, I was speaking with 5-6-9 in the infirmary," said Jumba. "He told me his account of what happened during the fight. Although he provided no explanation for why 4-0-5 was able to see through his illusion, he did tell me that 5-6-9 did make the mistake of not having his mentally projected figment of himself fight back which does calibrate with 4-0-5's story but that doesn't necessarily prove 4-0-5's innocence." 4-0-5 was relieved a bit by the news.

The chair creaked loudly as Jumba leaned back into his chair.

"Now, 4-0-5, tell me, in your own words, what happened during the fight," said Jumba. 4-0-5 began to explain what happened in the arena. He told him everything that happened, leaving nothing out of his story. He told him about the illusions he had experienced and the incident where he was nearly tricked into leaving the arena. He explained how he was able to see through 5-6-9's illusions which led to his victory. As he listened, Jumba sat in his chair, staring blankly at 4-0-5 without a single bit of emotion on his face. By the time 4-0-5 was done talking, Jumba just sat there, thinking quietly to himself. The whole time, he kept his eyes away from 5-6-4. Although 5-6-4's powers could not decipher exactly what her creator was thinking, she could still sense that he was weighing the odds of 4-0-5's story being plausible.

By the time 4-0-5 was done telling his story, it was at that point that 5-2-5 decided to speak up. "You know, even if 5-6-9 did reveal his bogus duplicate by not manipulating it into fighting, 5-6-4 may still have told 4-0-5 he was in an illusion and they simply used 5-6-9's mistake to come up with this story." 4-0-5 fought the urge to scream out that 5-2-5 was lying but he knew that would only make things worse. Instead, he grabbed the arms of his chair, digging his claws into the wood. Although she wasn't looking into his eyes, 5-6-4 could still sense 4-0-5's anger and she put her hand on top of his hand to calm him down.

When 4-0-5 didn't say anything to defend himself, 5-2-5 continued to talk. "Jumba, I can bet my life that 4-0-5 is guilty. How else could a failed experiment get so far in the tournament. Like how he managed to defeat that replication experiment, 4-8-2."

"I found the original 4-8-2 out of the crowd of clones because she was the only one who wasn't fighting," insisted 4-0-5, trying to keep the tone of his voice calm.

"That's just as absurd as your story about seeing through 5-6-9's illusion," said 5-2-5 smugly.

"No, he's quite right," said Jumba. "I watch the Experiment Tournaments and indeed, I did notice that the original 4-8-2 was not moving. Also, I saw nothing to even remotely suggest he was cheating during his fight with 5-0-9 so I suggest we keep this discussion focused on 4-0-5's fight with 5-6-9." Disappointed, 5-2-5 said nothing. The three experiments continued to talk to Jumba, going over the evidence with him.

Meanwhile, as 4-0-5 was being prosecuted, 6-2-5 and 2-9-7 (Shortstuff) was in the stadium's control room. After they had eaten lunch, Jumba give them the job of sorting through all the footage taken of the fights during the tournament. Jumba had told the two experiments about 5-2-5's theory of how 4-0-5 cheated in the tournament and they needed to find video footage of the fights in order to prove or disprove the claim. 6-2-5 and 2-9-7 were shocked to learn that 4-0-5 was being accused of cheating and they both agreed to help out in the investigation. The two were in the video surveillance room looking through all the digital recordings of the crowds and the arena.

The two experiments were watching six different monitors at once, each one playing footage taken from the fights. Four of the cameras had been recording the arena at four different angles while the remaining two had been recording the audience. Each of the cameras were linked by a single digital player which is controlled by a small remote which laid on the counter next to 2-9-7. Because all the footage from the cameras were linked by one unit, each of the screens were designed to play, rewind, fast forward, and stop at the same time in order to allow the footage to be sequential with each other. 6-2-5 and 2-9-7 watched the footage of 4-0-5's fight as well as the footage of the audience taken at the exact same time. The sound had been turned off in order to prevent a cluttering of noise in the small room.

The two experiments had been watching the same footage for the third time and none of them found anything of interest.

"I'm bored," whined 6-2-5.

"Will you please focus," said 2-9-7. "4-0-5 and Jumba need us to watch this footage for any clues that could prove 4-0-5's guilt or innocents. Not to mention 4-0-5 wont stand much of a chance of being exonerated if we don't find anything."

"I know," whined 6-2-5. "Look, I too believe 4-0-5 is innocent and that 5-2-5 is framing him but what can we do about it? We've watched this footage three times already and found nothing."

"I know but we have to make sure," said 2-9-7. "If you're so bored, then lets just play it again just one more time to make sure we didn't miss anything. Okay?"

"Fine, I'll watch it one more time," said 6-2-5 irritably. With that said, 2-9-7 pressed the rewind button on the remote with one of his four lobster claws and right before their eyes, the images on all six of the screens was moving backwards at a fast pace.

When 2-9-7 played back the footage, the two experiments simultaneously watched one screen from the next as they were shown what the connected cameras had recorded. 6-2-5 was staring at a recording of the audience when something caught his eye. It was a small speck of lavender in the audience that could have easily been missed do to the other colors that took up the audience.

"Hit the stop button," ordered 6-2-5.

"Why?" asked 2-9-7.

"Just do it," said 6-2-5 and 2-9-7 complied. He hit the pause button and the footage paused where it was.

"Okay, now what?" asked 2-9-7.

"Zoom in here," said 6-2-5 as he pointed towards the lavender figure on the screen. Complying, 2-9-7 used the remote to direct the digital footage to zoom in on the area indicated by 6-2-5. The picture grew closer until the two experiments could clearly see the experiment in the picture. It was 5-6-4. She was staring at an empty seat behind her and, for some reason, she appeared to be all wet.

"What's she doing?" asked 2-9-7.

"I don't know," admitted 6-2-5. "Try rewinding it." 2-9-7 rewound the tape and then played it again.

In the footage, they saw 6-0-4 spilling his soda all over 5-6-4. 5-6-4 got mad and she turned her gaze towards 6-0-4 who had disappeared.

"Wow, what a mess," said 2-9-7 but 6-2-5 was more focused on the other screens than on the mess.

"Play that back again," ordered 6-2-5 and 2-9-7 once again rewound the tape and replayed. As the footage of 6-0-4's accident was played, 6-2-5 had his eyes on the other screens, watching the five other separate images take place. When 6-2-5's suspicions were conformed, he was overjoyed.

"2-9-7, get Jumba and the others down here," said 6-2-5.

"Why?" asked 2-9-7.

"Because, if I'm right, then I have just proven that 4-0-5 is innocent," said 6-2-5. Not sure as to what 6-2-5 was implying, 2-9-7 did as he was told and left to get Jumba.

It wasn't long before 2-9-7 had rushed back into the room with Jumba, 5-2-5, 5-6-4, and 4-0-5 with him. Upon entering, 5-2-5--the most skeptical of all of them--said,

"Alright, show us this so called 'proof' you're trying to show us."

"Please, 5-2-5, no need to be judgmental," said Jumba. He turned to 6-2-5 and asked, "What did you find?"

"Well, I was looking through the footage and I found footage of 5-6-4 in the audience," explained 6-2-5 proudly.

"So?" asked 5-2-5.

"Well, look at this and you'll see what I mean," said 6-2-5. "Okay 2-9-7, roll the tape for them." 2-9-7 pushed the play button and the tape started. From the screen that showed a close-up of the audience, everyone watched the zoomed-in footage of 5-6-4. 5-6-4 watched the screen as 6-0-4 once again dumped cold soda all over her which made her feel rather embarrassed at having everyone in the room watch her get drenched.

The footage only lasted for about twenty seconds before it was stopped with 5-6-4 soaked and staring at an empty seat where 6-0-4 was. Unimpressed, 5-2-5 said, "That's very funny but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, look at the other monitors," said 6-2-5 in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "All the monitors are in complete chronological sequence which means that whatever is shown on this screen," 6-2-5 points to the screen with the close-up of 5-6-4, "happens at the same time as what is shown on the other screens. As you can clearly see, at the same time 5-6-4 was distracted with 6-0-4, 4-0-5 was still busy fighting the illusion which means he hadn't gotten a telepathic message at this point and when we continue to play the footage, you'll realize that 4-0-5 stops fighting while 5-6-4 had her eyes off 4-0-5." 6-2-5 hit the play button to start the tape and sure enough, 4-0-5 had stopped fighting while 5-6-4's attention was away from him.

"What does that prove?" asked 5-2-5.

"I can only use my telepathic powers on people I'm actually looking at," said 5-6-4 as she smiled with joy. "If my eyes were off 4-0-5 at the time of the fight then I couldn't have sent him a telepathic message."

"She's right," said Jumba. "Then that would mean that 4-0-5 is innocent." The look of confidence that had been on 5-2-5's face all this time was quickly replaced with one of shock.

"But Jumba, she could have told him sooner, before she was drenched in soda," suggested 5-2-5 desperately.

"Then 4-0-5 would have stopped fighting sooner than shown on the screen in order to avoid falling into a trap or going over the edge," said Jumba. "No, I believe this proves 4-0-5's innocents. He is now exonerated of his crimes and free to be in the fourth round." Upon hearing this, 5-6-4 and 4-0-5 began to celebrate. 5-6-4 was so happy that she wrapped her arms around 4-0-5 and kissed him on the cheek and 4-0-5 was too overjoyed to care that she'd kissed him in public.

Outraged, 5-2-5 asked Jumba, "How could you exonerate him like that?"

"Well, for three reasons," said Jumba. "One, the video shows clearly that 4-0-5 is innocent. Two, your accusations are based off of hunches and suspicions with very little fact. And three, 4-0-5 has never lied to me before so I trust him." Angered 5-2-5 stormed out the room.

"What's his problem?" asked 6-2-5.

"Well, now that this has being settled, I'm going to go home and prepare for rounds four and five," said Jumba. "Be seeing you tomorrow." With that said, Jumba left the room.

"Well, I see my work here is done," said 6-2-5. "I'm going home for a nice long nap. What about you, 2-9-7?"

"I'm going to screw around some more with my electronic devices at home," said 2-9-7 as he and 6-2-5 left the room, leaving 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 alone. Both of them had wide smiles on their faces, relieved from all the tension they had endured for the past few hours. 5-6-4 turned to 4-0-5 and said, "By the way, I just remembered. I want to congratulate you on getting into the fourth round." 4-0-5 smiled in response. It wasn't the first time he had gotten a congratulations for getting into the next round but coming from 5-6-4, it meant a lot to him.

Once 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 left the stadium, the two split up and went their separate ways. 5-6-4 spent her day hanging out with her friends while 4-0-5 stayed in his apartment all day. Worried that the other experiments would mock him when they find out he was accused of cheating, he decided it was best to stay in the comfort of his apartment until tomorrow. He spent his day sitting next to his large window over looking the city below. He watched as the sun experiment, 5-0-6, descended below the horizon and the moon experiment, 5-0-5, began rising up to take control of the sky over Alyzaum. Admiring the view from his apartment window, 4-0-5 just sat there admiring the array of bright lights that lit up the experiment city. Seeing Alyzaum lit up at night always made 4-0-5 feel happy which aloud him to forget, for a moment, what had happened today between himself and 5-2-5. Suddenly, there was a knock from the door to his apartment, followed by 5-6-4's voice from behind the door.

"It's me, can I come in?"

"Come on in, the door's unlocked," said 4-0-5 without removing his gaze from the window. He heard the door open and 5-6-4 stepping into the room. She walked over to his side and sat down upon the windowsill next to 4-0-5.

4-0-5 turned to see 5-6-4 beside him and noticed that she was carrying a brown paper bag. 4-0-5 was curious as to what was in the bag. Of-course, 5-6-4 read his mind and said, "I brought you some cooked monka roots and Triski steaks since I figured you had not left your apartment since the end of the tournament."

"Once again, you always seem to know me too well," said 4-0-5 with a laugh. "Thank you, I haven't eaten all day." 5-6-4 smiled as she got up from the windowsill and placed the bag of food on top of 4-0-5's dinning room table just a few feet away. She then sat down next to 4-0-5 and watched the view below.

The two sat there, watching the glowing lights from the city down below.

"You certainly have a beautiful view from up here," said 5-6-4. "My apartment is on the ground floor so I don't get this kind of view." 4-0-5 said nothing in response. For a while, the two stared at the world below until 4-0-5 asked, "So, has word gone out about me nearly getting kicked out of the tournament?"

"No, apparently Jumba had managed to keep the rumors under control or perhaps few are willing to talk about it," said 5-6-4. "I've been reading minds all day and hardly anyone has heard about 5-2-5's accusations and, unfortunately, almost all who did hear about it believed you were guilty." 4-0-5 clenched his teeth in anger when 5-6-4 mentioned 5-2-5.

"I can't believe he done that," said 4-0-5 angrily. "I entered this tournament because I wanted to show everyone I was just as capable as anyone else but 5-2-5 just wants to be popular and he doesn't care who he has to crush just to get it."

"I know how you feel," said 5-6-4. "If I was in the tournament, there would be nothing I wouldn't give for the chance to wipe that smirk off 5-2-5's face. Too bad there's nothing I can do."

"But maybe there's something I can do," said 4-0-5 confidently. "I hope I fight 5-2-5 in the fourth or fifth round because when I do, I'm going to pound him to the ground. No matter what, I'm not going to let that trog win."

"But how are you going to do that?" asked 5-6-4. When he couldn't think of an answer, 4-0-5's confidence faded a bit.

"I don't know," admitted 4-0-5 bluntly. "But I know I will. I promise you, 5-2-5 will pay for framing me. He will pay for all the bad deeds he had done to myself and others. I don't know how but I swear I will find a way."

5-6-4 couldn't help but feel proud of 4-0-5. She always believed that he had the potential to do great things and now he has proven it. As if to show her feeling, 5-6-4 leaned over to 4-0-5 and began licking the bridge of his nose. To an experiment, licking each other's nose was a sign of affection and when 5-6-4 continued to affectionately lick 4-0-5's nose, he began to blush. 5-6-4 smiled upon seeing 4-0-5's face turn red. The two sat there on the windowsill, gazing into each other's eyes, their figures silhouetted against the glow of the moonlight. For a whole minute, the two sat there, gazing into each other's eyes as new feelings for each other began to rise deep within them.

As 4-0-5 gazed upon 5-6-4, he never noticed how beautiful she looked. With the moonlight shining down upon her, her lavender colored fur glowed softly as if the light was purifying her. 4-0-5 couldn't help but stare at her as if she was a goddess. He never felt like this before and he wasn't sure what to do next. 5-6-4 saved him the trouble by saying, "It's getting late. I'm going to go home so I can go to bed." Still enthralled by 5-6-4's beauty, 4-0-5 said softly, "Okay, good night." Knowing what was going through 4-0-5's mind—literally—5-6-4 smiled as she got up from the windowsill and walked towards the door. As she opened it, she turned around to face 4-0-5 and said to him, "You better go to bed too, you know. After all, you do have the fourth round to look forward too and you'll need your strength."

"I will," said 4-0-5.

"Good luck in the tournament," said 5-6-4 and then left.

With little else to do now that he was by himself, 4-0-5 decided to eat the food 5-6-4 had left him but for some reason, he wasn't feeling too hungry. He ate only about half of what was in the bag, leaving the rest on the table as he went to bed. After brushing his teeth, he climbed into his small bed for some rest. He turned off the light by his bed and as he curled himself under the covers, he took a moment to feel his nose where 5-6-4 had been affectionately licking just a few moments ago. He smiled to himself as he curled into bed, his thoughts and dreams were filled with the image of 5-6-4 silhouetted against the moonlight….


	11. Round Four

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 11: Round Four

Morning came to Alyzaum, like it always did, with the sun experiment, 5-0-6, rising above the city. Normally at this time in the morning, Alyzaum would have been very quite and still but not today. Today, the entire city was filled with activity as experiments everywhere prepared for the tournament. The restaurants were packed with experiments wanting to have breakfast before the tournament. It wasn't long before the buses were once again sent out to deliver the experiments to the stadium.

5-0-6 had just fully peaked over the horizon and was already shining down upon the small city by the time the stadium began to become overcrowded. Buses lined the road outside the stadium where experiments were gathering in a single line. Amongst the crowd was 5-6-4 who was also fighting to get into the stadium so she could get a good seat. She was in such a hurry to get a seat that she only had a single large cinnamon roll for breakfast. She was anxious to see 4-0-5 up close during the fourth round but, despite how early she was, the line was very long by the time she got there. After waiting in line for an hour, she got inside only to see that the stadium was crowded. There must have been at least three-hundred experiments there and 5-6-4 was fighting through all of them.

With so many experiments in her way, 5-6-4 was beginning to lose hope that she wouldn't find a seat close to the arena when suddenly, she noticed a few empty seats right in the front row. 5-6-4 ran as fast as she could through the crowd. The crowd in the stadium, although formidably large, wasn't as bad as it was yesterday so she didn't have as much of a hard time getting to the seat before anyone else did. 5-6-4 sat down on the seat and was amazed at how close she was to the arena. She was so close that she could clearly see the tournament's contestants sitting on the other side of the arena. All the experiments that were in the tournament were sitting on a single large bench located across from her.

Not long after 5-6-4 got into the seat, Jumba came by and sat down next to her, his massive buttocks filling two seats at once. Surprised to see Jumba sitting next to her, 5-6-4 asked, "Jumba, what are you doing here?"

"I'm watching fight," said Jumba. "Care for some jedja beans." Jumba pulled out a box of jedja beans from his coat and offered it to 5-6-4.

"No thanks," she said politely. Jumba shrugged his shoulders and began eating the beans.

Meanwhile, 4-0-5 was on his way to the stadium. Unlike 5-6-4, he stopped for a large breakfast before taking the bus to the stadium. He took so long eating breakfast that by the time the bus brought him to the stadium, there was only thirty minutes before the battle was suppose to begin. He hastily rushed to the contestants' private entrance to the stadium—located on the side of the building opposite to the main entrance—and then ran through the halls until he found the benches where the contestants sit. 4-0-5 sat down on the end of the bench right next to 6-1-9 (Splodyhead). He sat there on that bench trying to catch his breath when all of a sudden, he heard 5-6-4's telepathic voice in his head.

"Hey, 4-0-5, look up," said the voice. 4-0-5 craned his neck towards the audience and to his surprise, he saw 5-6-4 in the front row sitting next to Jumba. She was waving at him from her seat. 4-0-5 waved back to her. Since there was little more he could do to communicate with her, 4-0-5 went back to just looking at the ground and waiting for the tournament to start.

As he sat there on the bench, his gaze turned towards 5-2-5 who was sitting nearby and bragging once again. He was sitting in between 4-8-2 (Replica) and 5-2-8 (Tornadra) and the two females were admiring him as if he was the most hansom man in the universe.

"Yep, no doubt that my final two opponents will be easy to beat and once I obtain the championship again, I'll take you girls on a romantic dinner if you like," said 5-2-5 in a self-absorbed tone of voice.

"Oh that would be wonderful," said 4-8-2 dreamily. 4-0-5 pretended to gag as he watched the two girls drooling over 5-2-5.

"You want to get back at him, don't you?" asked a voice from seemingly nowhere. 4-0-5 was startled by the voice and when he searched for its source, he noticed that it came from 6-1-9 who sat next to him.

"Are you sick of seeing that show-off always getting the last laugh?" asked 6-1-9.

"Yes," answered 4-0-5.

"Well, I don't like him either and when I tried to defeat him, I failed," said 6-1-9. "Beat him for me, 4-0-5. Don't let that son of a trog win."

"Don't worry," said 4-0-5 with determination on his face. "I wont fail you." He took one last glance at the smirk on 5-2-5's face and said with anger, "I wont."

Meanwhile, 6-2-5 and 2-9-7 were up in the announcer's room, preparing for the tournament to start. 6-2-5 was preparing by eating what he called a "breakfast sandwich" which was actually a sandwich filled with scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, and fitted in-between two slices of toasted bread. For condiments, he used salt, ketchup, and grape jelly which all dripped onto the napkin 6-2-5 had tied around his neck. The huge hodgepodge of breakfast items that 6-2-5 was eating looked rather disgusting to 2-9-7.

"Will you stop eating that, you're getting crumbs all over the counter," said 2-9-7. "Jumba told you to keep this equipment clean and you're doing the exact opposite."

"I'll clean it up," insisted 6-2-5 after swallowing a bite of his sandwich. "I only have two bites left of this sandwich and then I'll clean up the mess."

"Well, hurry," insisted 2-9-7. "The tournament will begin in fifteen minutes."

"Alright, alright," said 6-2-5. He then proceeded to finish the remainder of his sandwich and began cleaning up the crumbs with the napkin he had on his neck.

Once the mess was cleaned up, 6-2-5 prepared to start the tournament. 2-9-7 began operating the controls to the lights and cameras as 6-2-5 adjusted the microphone. Once the microphone was adjusted to his height, 6-2-5 pressed a little red button on the microphone and said into it, "Experiments of all numbers, welcome to day two of the Experiment Tournament." 6-2-5's voice echoed throughout the stadium and the experiments cheered in response. "As you know, we've just completed rounds one through three yesterday and today, we are going to get started on rounds four and five. Only four experiments remain and in the fourth round, all four experiments will compete for the honor of entering the fifth round. Once they reach the fifth round, the two remaining experiments will battle for the championship. Prepare for some intense fights because all of these skilled combatants will do anything just to earn the highest honor of Alyzaum. Who will be our champion? Will it be last year's winner, Experiment 5-2-5, or will it be our other contestants? Lets not wait any longer to find out so lets bring our first two contestants, Experiment 4-0-5 and Experiment 5-2-3."

There were cheers from the audience in a loud array of noises. The audience was cheering out 4-0-5's and 5-2-3's numbers over and over again as the two experiments stepped out onto the arena with 5-2-3 waving to the audience and 4-0-5 with his attention on 5-2-3. 5-6-4 did not cheer for 4-0-5—for fear that she might distract him since he looked so focused—but she was none the less silently chanting to herself, hoping that 4-0-5 will be in the fifth round.

4-0-5 got behind the red line and 5-2-3 got behind his own line. The two stood perfectly still as they stared each other down like tigers ready to pounce. 4-0-5 had extended all four of his arms as well as his antennas and quills, his battle mode form. 5-2-3 did not have these kinds of appendages. Instead, he just grinned mischievously as if he had an evil plot on his mind. In preparation for a fight, 4-0-5 stood poised, as if ready to pounce or jump when the time comes.

The bell rang suddenly, starting the fight, and 5-2-3 was the first to react by firing a puff of cold air at 4-0-5. 4-0-5 reacted by jumping to the side but 5-2-3 was not trying to hit him as he had thought. Instead, 5-2-3 was using his powers to create a long quarterstaff made out of ice. Once the weapon was made, he charged towards 4-0-5 with the intent of striking him off his feet but before he could get too close, 4-0-5 extended his metal claws to their full length and then sliced the quarterstaff in two with a single swipe.

Undaunted, 5-2-3 blew cold air onto the ends of the two halves and the cold air formed mallet heads on top of them. Using the newly created weapons, 5-2-3 began pounding the ground around 4-0-5. With amazing dexterity and speed, 4-0-5 easily dodged, ducked, jumped over, and evaded the icicle hammers. The audience cheered him on for his amazing speed and agility. 5-2-3 took another swing at 4-0-5 who dodged the attack by doing a back flip into the air and as he came down, he fully extended his claws and used them to slice the hammers in half. The crowd cheered at the sight of this amazing show of skill and dexterity.

5-2-3 conjured a few snowballs and began throwing them at 4-0-5. 4-0-5 sliced the snowballs as they came to him but before he could do anything else, 5-2-3 fired more snowballs at 4-0-5 in rapid succession from his mouth. 4-0-5 extended his claws and began slashing at the snowballs as they came at him but 5-2-3 was firing so many snowballs that it quickly began to engulf him. 5-6-4 gasped as she watched 4-0-5 become buried under a pile of snow. Once 4-0-5 was completely covered, there was no more movement from him. He had disappeared under the snow, his fate unknown.

Curious, 5-2-3 walked up to the pile of snow to get a closer look. Everyone in the stadium was on the edge of their seats, asking themselves "what happened to 4-0-5?" By the time 5-2-3 was within reach of the snow pile, everyone got their answer. From out of the snow pile, 4-0-5 leaped out in a surprise attack. With a good punch to the nose, 5-2-3 was knocked off his feet and onto his back. Before he had a chance to get back up for a counter attack, 4-0-5 picked up 5-2-3 by his ankles and began to spin.

With 5-2-3 dangling helplessly, 4-0-5 spun around and around. 5-2-3 was beginning to feel very dizzy by the time 4-0-5 let go of him, tossing him into the air and heading towards the edge of the ring. The audience gasped, thinking that 4-0-5 was going win but, despite how dizzy he was, 5-2-3 managed to balance himself enough to blow cold air towards the edge of the ring. The force of the spewing air slowed 5-2-3 down enough to enable him to land short just before crossing the boundaries of the ring. 5-2-3 landed hard on the ground, smashing to pieces like a glass statue. The pieces immediately reassembled and 5-2-3 was now standing on his feet, growling in anger. Undaunted, 4-0-5 extended his claws, ready for anything 5-2-3 had in store for him.

With a loud battle cry, 4-0-5 ran towards 5-2-3, his claws extended and ready for battle but before he could get far, 5-2-3 began blowing cold air onto the ground and a thin layer of ice began to form. Before 4-0-5 could stop himself, he ran onto the ice and began sliding on it. The ice was so slippery that 4-0-5 could not stop himself as he slid across the ice. With 4-0-5 heading towards him, 5-2-3 blew a cloud of cold air at 4-0-5. The cloud would have encased 4-0-5 in a big block of ice if 4-0-5 pasted through it. 4-0-5 knew this so instead, he ran his claws into the ice below his feet and, shifting his weight to steer himself, he quickly managed to slide to the right and avoid the cloud. As soon as 4-0-5 got out of the way, 5-2-3 blew another cloud to the ground which formed an icy ramp. Before 4-0-5 could react, he flew off the ramp and into the air. The audience gasped as 4-0-5 flew towards the edge of the arena but 4-0-5 managed a daring maneuver to save himself. By using his great dexterity, 4-0-5 landed onto the ground just a mere foot away from the edge of the arena. Many gasps and cheers were heard from the audience from that close call.

5-2-3 blew some more cold air directed at 4-0-5. 4-0-5 leaped into the air, doing a back-flip in the process, and landing onto solid ground. More cold air was blown from 5-2-3's mouth and 4-0-5 made a run for it as the cold air formed a huge ice cube right where 4-0-5 had been standing a few seconds ago. 4-0-5 stood ready for a fight but instead of engaging him, 5-2-3 breathed in and exhaled a huge cloud of cold air that began to cover the edge of the arena in ice. 4-0-5 curiously watched as 5-2-3 continued to form ice along the arena.

"What is that ice experiment doing?" asked 6-2-5. It wasn't long before he got his answer. 5-2-3 was covering the arena in ice. Using his freezing cold breath, he began to create what looked to be a huge ice barrier around the edges of the ring. 4-0-5 watched as the ice wall was formed. To make sure that he covers the edges completely, 5-2-3 climbed to the top of his wall and began creating more ice.

The crowd was watching in curiosity as 5-2-3 created the ice wall around the arena. The ice wall was curved inward as if 5-2-3 was trying to create a hollow cone. 4-0-5 stood in the middle of the arena as he watched 5-2-3 make his wall of ice. 4-0-5 was confused as to what he was up too. The ice was forming high above his head and it was starting to get cold in the arena. It was so cold, he could see his own breath. His fur provided some warmth but he was still shivering do to the cold.

It wasn't until the wall began to grow so high that it was blocking 4-0-5's sight from the audience did he realize what 5-2-3 was doing. By forming this huge barrier around 4-0-5, 5-2-3 has created a container for his cold breath. If 5-2-3 were to blow his cold air into the incomplete ice dome he had made, the air would be perfectly contained, making it difficult for 4-0-5 to escape. 4-0-5 searched frantically for a place to escape but with over ten feet tall and nearly three feet thick walls surrounding him in all directions, there was none. Suddenly, 4-0-5 heard the cackling laugh of 5-2-3. He spun around and saw his opponent standing on top of the wall and looking down upon 4-0-5. 4-0-5's confidence fell as he realized he was in a trap.

5-2-3 breathed in deeply and then blew into the arena, his cold air filling the ice container.

"Oh no, 4-0-5 is trapped," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. As 5-2-3 had planed, the ice barrier contained the cloud of cold air. Freezing cold air stayed low to the ground, causing ice to form along the ground. Desperate to escape, 4-0-5 extended his claws and then driven them into the side of the ice wall. Using his claws like hooks, he scaled the side of the wall, climbing as fast as he could off the ground. The ice wall was too cold and slippery to allow him to have his feet attach themselves to it so he had to relay on his claws to climb the wall. He managed to climb out of reach of the cold air that formed under him and it looked like he would escape but then, 5-2-3 fired several huge blocks of ice at the wall. The blocks hit the wall, knocking a few chunks out of it and all the pieces fell down upon 4-0-5's head, knocking him off the ice barrier.

By now, the cloud of cold air had formed a two foot thick sheet of ice on the ground which hurt really bad when 4-0-5 landed on his back onto the cold ice and if that weren't enough, the broken shards of ice fell on top of him, knocking the wind out of him. 4-0-5 was now buried under a pile of ice, shivering with cold and having difficulties moving with all the ice on top of him. Suddenly, 4-0-5 noticed two snowballs—both as big as he was—coming right at him. Using all the strength he could manage, 4-0-5 pulled himself out of the pile of ice but before he could dodge out of the way, the huge snows ball hit him dead on, knocking him off his feet and on top of the pile of broken ice. The blow knocked the wind out of 4-0-5 which wasn't good because he was now buried under a pile of snow. Desperate for air, he clawed at the snow with his razor sharp claws until he was freed but as soon as he was out into the open, 5-2-3 fired more snow upon him

"Oh man, 5-2-3 has 4-0-5 trapped," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "He's pounding him with snow and he can't get away." The audience could barely see 4-0-5 behind the wall of ice so they had to relay on the large video screens overhead. 5-6-4 could also not see 4-0-5 through the ice so she watched the large screens instead. When she noticed that 4-0-5 was being pounded, she silently said to herself, "Come on, 4-0-5, you can do it."

Meanwhile, 4-0-5 was being buried alive in snow and every time he fought his way out, he was covered in more snow. After being reburied for the third time, 4-0-5 struggled out of the snow to find that the blizzard had halted. 4-0-5 was concerned as to what 5-2-3 was planning and it wasn't long before he found out because at that moment, four huge icicles fell from the sky and they impaled themselves into the ground, forming a perfect little prison for 4-0-5 since they were so close to each other. Now that he was trapped by the huge icicles, 5-2-3 had no troubles spewing more snow on top of him.

The audience watched transfixed as snow began piling on top of 4-0-5.

"Oh no, is this the end of 4-0-5?" said 6-2-5 over the speakers. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they watched 4-0-5 being buried alive. With the snow burying 4-0-5 in a deep blanket, everyone suspected that this was the end. The ice bowl that was formed in the ring was already filling to the top with snow when a miracle happened. The center of the snow mound exploded as 4-0-5 leaped out of the snow. It was difficult with all the snow in the way but 4-0-5 had used the same trick he had used to free himself from the pile of 4-8-2's clones in round two. Using his claws, he had managed to burrow through the snow and landed right on top of the snow mound. The crowd cheered and clapped with excitement at 4-0-5's miraculous escape. Now that 4-0-5 was out in the open again, he charged towards 5-2-3.

Caught off guard and without a back-up plan, 5-2-3 blew another cloud of cold air but 4-0-5 leaped over the cloud and then pounced on 5-2-3. Since 5-2-3 was standing on the edge of the ice barrier, the two fell over the edge and, like a slide, the two slid down it towards the edge of the arena. 4-0-5 reacted quickly by extending his claws and digging them deep into the ice. Particles of ice flew everywhere as huge gashes were formed in the ice by the long claws. 4-0-5 eventually stopped, hanging by nothing more than his nails. 5-2-3, without the aid of sharp metal claws, continued to slide until he hit the ground and wound up lying just beyond the edge of the arena.

"You're out," cried the referee. "The winner, 4-0-5." Like an explosion of noise, the entire audience cheered with joy. The audience was screaming so loud that 6-2-5's voice was barely auditable over the noise.

"I don't believe it, in a stunning display of dexterity, 4-0-5 has just escaped 5-2-3's icy prison and totally vanquished his opponent," shouted 6-2-5 as he began hoping up in down in his seat, just as excited as the crowd. "Well folks, it looks like 4-0-5 is going to have the honor of entering the fifth round of the Experiment Tournament."

With the deafening roar of the crowd, 4-0-5's ears were beginning to ring. Wanting to get into the infirmary so he could warm up, he climbed down the ice wall and was about to leave when 5-6-4's telepathic voice suddenly filled his head. "Congratulations, you did great out there." He looked up and right above him was 5-6-4 smiling down upon him. He didn't think 5-6-4 could hear him so instead of talking back, 4-0-5 just waved at her and shot her a smile as he left the arena.

Cleaning the mountain of thick ice off of the arena was a very difficult task. Much to the annoyance of the audience, it took thirty minutes to clear off all the snow and dry off the arena.

"Sorry about the delay," said 6-2-5 over the speakers. "Cleaning up the messes of our contestants is a difficult job. Now that the arena has been cleared, next up is our raining champion, 5-2-5, and his opponent, 6-0-1." Cheers were heard from the audience as the two experiments got into the arena. 6-0-1 (Kixx) stepped into the arena with an air of confidence while 5-2-5 just flirted as he walked. When 6-0-1 stood behind the red line, he stood with perfect posture and all of his arms to his hips, ready for any fight that comes his way. 5-2-5 showed no sign of doubt or intimation on his face as he stood behind the red line in front of 6-0-1.

"This should be an interesting fight," said 6-2-5's voice over the speakers. "5-2-5 is last year's raining champion but 6-0-1 is one of the most powerful experiments Jumba has ever made. Lets see who is truly the strongest."

The bell rang, signaling the fight's beginning and 6-0-1 began the fight with an uppercut to the jaw. His two arms on his right side swung upwards towards 5-2-5's jaw but when the fists made contact, 5-2-5's head separated and the head was lifted with the fists, reducing the power of the blow. The whole thing lasted only a split second and before 6-0-1 knew it, 5-2-5's head was lying on his knuckles.

"Oh, you knocked my block off," said 5-2-5's head sarcastically. 6-0-1 was too stunned to say anything. The head levitated off 6-0-1's fist. It reattached itself back onto the body and 5-2-5 said, "Now it's my turn." Both 5-2-5's arms fell to pieces and the cubes that made up his arms swarmed around his right shoulder and the cubes came together to from an arm twice the size of 5-2-5's usual arms. With this huge appendage, 5-2-5 delivered a strong uppercut to 6-0-1's jaw. The punch was so strong that it tossed 6-0-1 off his feet and onto his back. The audience excitedly chanted 5-2-5's numbers in response.

6-0-1 immediately leaped back onto his feet and charged towards 5-2-5 once again. He drove his four fists into 5-2-5's chest but by the time the fists made contact, 5-2-5's body separated into pieces, avoiding any injury. When the pieces reassembled themselves, 6-0-1 grabbed 5-2-5 by his arm and attempted to toss 5-2-5 onto his back but 5-2-5's arm had come off in the process, leaving 6-0-1 with nothing to toss but a single arm. Before he could comprehend what had just happened, the rest of 5-2-5 disassembled and reassembled into the shape of a hammer that struck 6-0-1 in the head. 6-0-1 dropped the severed limb as he was knocked onto his knees. While 6-0-1 stood there in a daze, the hammer swung again and struck 6-0-1 in the side, knocking the wind out of him as he toppled onto his side.

As the hammer came down for a third blow, 6-0-1 quickly got back onto his feet using an impressive back-flip. The hammer came in for another strike at 6-0-1 but before the hammer made contact, 6-0-1 leaped over it and once he came down to a landing, he grabbed onto the handle and held 5-2-5 in place. Using all his strength, 6-0-1 began spinning like a top while holding the hammer in his four arms. 6-0-1 was about to toss 5-2-5 but before he could, the handle of the hammer split in two, leaving 6-0-1 to hold onto only a part of the handle. Before 6-0-1 could stop himself from spinning, the hammer swung around and struck 6-0-1 in the face. 6-0-1 was nearly knocked off balance and while he was distracted, the remainder of the hammer's handle reassembled into the shape of an arm and then it slapped 6-0-1 repeatedly.

Anger rising in him, 6-0-1 grabbed the arm to stop it from slapping him. As he was distracted by the arm, the hammer struck 6-0-1 hard in the abdomen. The audience cheered for 5-2-5 as he continued to pound 6-0-1. 6-0-1 let go of the arm and tried to fight off his attacker but the hammer was striking him too fast. Beaten and bruised, 6-0-1 fell to the ground. 5-2-5's hammer disassembled and then reassembled into 5-2-5's standard form. 6-0-1 struggled to get back onto his feet while 5-2-5 just confidently stood and watched.

"Tell you what, if you surrender now, I'll let you go in one piece," said 5-2-5. "You clearly have no chance against me so spare yourself the pain." Although he was weak from his injuries, 6-0-1 stood up and said, "It is you who will be feeling the pain." 6-0-1 charged towards 5-2-5 but 5-2-5's arms had disconnected from his shoulders and were flying towards 6-0-1. This move took 6-0-1 by surprise, enabling the arms to easily punch 6-0-1 in the chest and the abdomen all at once.

Now that 6-0-1 was vulnerable, 5-2-5 fell to pieces and then reassembled into a hand. The hand grabbed onto 6-0-1's legs and then began flailing him like a rag doll. 6-0-1 bent over to free himself from the large fingers of the disembodied hand but before he could, 5-2-5 slammed 6-0-1 onto the ground, striking him repeatedly against the hard ground. 5-2-5 then tossed 6-0-1 into the air and he landed hard onto the concrete ground. Beaten and bruised, 6-0-1 could barely stand when all of a sudden, the giant disembodied hand that 5-2-5 had formed flew up to him and with his large fingers, 5-2-5 flicked 6-0-1 like a booger. 6-0-1 soared through the air and he landed just outside the boundaries of the arena.

"6-0-1 is out," declared the referee and before he could say much more, the audience cheered with joy in a deafening scream.

4-0-5 had come back from the infirmary in time to see the fight and after seeing how 5-2-5 just beat up 6-0-1 like that, he was angered. He watched as 6-0-1 was carried in a stretcher and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the big guy. But what really ticked him off was the sight of 5-2-5 flirting to the audience. 4-0-5 could feel his rage building as he watched 5-2-5 giving a show to the audience like some trained animal in a magic act. "What a show off," thought 4-0-5.

By the time 5-2-5 had left the arena and the noise had quieted down, 6-2-5 said over the speakers, "Well folks, that was a very short round but it's not the last. There are only two combatants remaining and only one will be crowned champion. Our remaining two combatants will include last year's raining champ, 5-2-5, and our surprising underdog, 4-0-5. 5-2-5 had won last year's tournament without breaking a sweat. Thanks to his ability to break apart like that, he could literally not be harmed and his skills have effortlessly worked him through this tournament and into the fifth round. 4-0-5 is a failed experiment whom no one expected to get this far but has. Using nothing more than his claws, he has proven that even the most unlikely experiments can succeed. Now that these two remain as the final combatants, they will fight each other in the fifth and final round. And the question is: who will claim the crown…?"


	12. Round Five, 525 vs 405

The Experiment Tournament

Chapter 12: Round Five, 5-2-5 vs. 4-0-5

Experiment 3-4-5 (Elastico) came out onto the stage to perform for the audience during the halftime show. Unlike the other halftime shows, many of the experiments didn't bother to leave their seats. The fifth round was not going to be as long as the previous rounds so many of them figured they had enough snacks to last them till the end of the fight and they can resist going to the bathroom until then as well. One of the few experiments who got up from her seat was Experiment 5-6-4 who was in the hallways, looking for 4-0-5. Since he wasn't with the other combatants, she decided to search for him in the infirmary but by the time she reached the door to the infirmary, she heard voices coming from behind the door.

Quietly, she opened the door and peaked inside to see 4-0-5 and 5-2-5 talking to each other. They stood facing each other as if they were going to fight.

"So, you think you can defeat me, do you?" said 5-2-5.

"It's time you felt the bitter agony of defeat, 5-2-5," said 4-0-5. "I've made it this far on my own and I'm certain that I'm going to finish what I started and beat you."

"You have no chance, 4-0-5," interjected 5-2-5. "I've kicked your butt many times and I can do it again in the tournament and this time, I wont be as merciful as I was in the past. I'm going to punch you so hard, Jumba will feel it."

"Not unless I punch you first," said 4-0-5. 5-2-5 laughed out loud sarcastically.

"You're quite gutsy for a failed experiment," said 5-2-5 slyly. "I'm certainly lucky that I'm going to have the opportunity to fight you and believe me, when this fight is over, you'll be sent to the infirmary in a matchbox. With you out of the way, perhaps I could finally convince 5-6-4 to go on a date with me."

"You leave her out of this," said 4-0-5 angrily.

"Why?" asked 5-2-5. "Are you trying to protect your boochi-boo. Really, I don't know what she sees in you. She can read minds yet she has no taste in boyfriends. She must be really foolish."

"You take that back!" shouted 4-0-5. " 5-6-4 is the smartest, kindest, and most beautiful experiment in all of Alyzaum!" From behind the door to the infirmary, 5-6-4 blushed when she heard 4-0-5 say all those complements.

"Is that so?" said 5-2-5. "Well, perhaps she would rather go out with the real champion. After all, when I get through with you, I'm going to rearrange your face so much that no one will recognize you. See you in the arena." With that said, 5-2-5 walked towards the exit with a confident smile on his face. 5-6-4 saw 5-2-5 coming and she immediately pressed herself against the wall next to the door in order to hide herself from 5-2-5's view as he left the infirmary.

Once he was gone, 5-6-4 walked into the infirmary to see 4-0-5 sitting on one of the infirmary beds. He was surprised to see 5-6-4 as she walked in.

"5-6-4, what are you doing here?" asked 4-0-5.

"I've come to see how you were doing," said 5-6-4 as she walked up to him. "Are you okay?" 4-0-5 didn't answer her. He just stared at her blankly as if he didn't know how to respond. He didn't have to, however, because 5-6-4 easily read his mind and she could tell that 4-0-5 was feeling doubtful of the fight. He knew that he had never won a physical confrontation with 5-2-5 so 5-2-5 could easily win. All these thoughts ran through 4-0-5's mind.

Hearing these thoughts gave 5-6-4 some doubts as well but despite how hopeless the situation was, 5-6-4 had to maintain hope that something could be done, that somehow 4-0-5 will win. 5-6-4 knew this was a desperate time for 4-0-5 so she said the most comforting words she could think of: "I know how hopeless the situation is but I have faith in you and I would never think anything less of you, no matter what." 4-0-5 gave no visual response to 5-6-4 but her mind reading powers revealed that her words did provide 4-0-5 with some confidence. 5-6-4 wrapped her arms around 4-0-5 in a gentle hug. 4-0-5 wrapped his arms around her to return the hug. While in this loving embrace, 5-6-4 said to 4-0-5, "Good luck out there." With that said, 5-6-4 let go of 4-0-5 and then quietly left the infirmary, leaving 4-0-5 by himself.

5-6-4 had returned to her seat right next to Jumba who was snacking on a candy bar. Ignoring the smacking sounds from Jumba as he ate, 5-6-4 kept her attention to the arena as she waited for the fight to begin. It wasn't long before 6-2-5's voice was heard over the speakers. "Experiments, prepare yourselves for the moment you've all been waiting for. The fifth and final round of the Experiment Tournament is finally here. At long last, we shall get to see this year's champion." The crowd cheered in response. "The winner of this fight will get to take home the crown and receive the highest honor in Alyzaum. Both contestants have worked hard to get this far but only one will win so lets bring out 5-2-5 and 4-0-5." The crowd cheered as the two mentioned experiments came out into the open to take their place in the arena. As usual, 5-2-5 was waving to the audience like a celebrity. Female experiments were cheering for 5-2-5 but there were just as many cries for 4-0-5. When 4-0-5 entered this tournament, he was just a loser but now, he was famous.

4-0-5 stood behind the red line in the arena and 5-2-5 stood behind another line right in front of him. 4-0-5 extended his extra appendages, ready for a fight. 5-2-5 confidently grinned at 4-0-5 and said, "This fight is going to be quick." The bell rang and 4-0-5 leaped into action by charging at full speed like a cheetah. All four of his metal claws were extended and with a good strong swipe of his claws, he drove them into 5-2-5's chest but, as usual, 5-2-5 broke into pieces and the attack did nothing to harm him. The pieces flew over 4-0-5 like a swarm of bees and then 5-2-5 reassembled himself right behind 4-0-5. 4-0-5 extended his claws and spun around to aim at 5-2-5's head but by the time the claws reached the neck, 5-2-5's head separated and the claws passed harmlessly between the head and the body.

5-2-5's head attached itself back onto 5-2-5's neck, grinning confidently all the while.

"Is that really all you got?" said 5-2-5 sarcastically. Angered, 4-0-5 thrust his sharp claws into 5-2-5's chest but the chest fell to pieces so the attack did nothing to them. Before the pieces could reassemble themselves, 4-0-5 jumped into the swarm of flying cubes and then he used his claws to strike at 5-2-5's disembodied head. 4-0-5 was hoping to catch 5-2-5 by surprise but instead, 5-2-5's head just came apart and the attack was futile. 4-0-5 swung at 5-2-5's limbs but they too had fallen to pieces.

4-0-5 desperately slashed at the swarm of cubes but they were too small for 4-0-5's claws to hit. It was like trying to squish a swarm of bugs with only a hand full of pencils. The swarm of cubes flew around 4-0-5 until some of the cubes formed handcuffs that bound 4-0-5's four hands together.

"Hey!" said 4-0-5 irritably. Before he could do much else, the cuffs pinned 4-0-5's arms to the ground. As 4-0-5 struggled to get free, the remaining cubes came together to form the shape of a hammer. Realizing that he was vulnerable to a hammer strike, 4-0-5 desperately struggled to break free of his bonds. The hammer raised over 4-0-5's head, ready to knock 4-0-5 unconscious with a single blow. Reacting quickly, 4-0-5 jumped into the air in a desperate attempt to escape the hammer. Since the handcuffs still held 4-0-5's hands near the ground, 4-0-5 flipped onto his back with the handcuffs still holding his hands in place but rotating as 4-0-5 back-flipped. It was like doing a summersault with your hands clutching a piece of pipe sticking out of the ground. The hammer hit the ground where 4-0-5 had been just a few seconds ago.

4-0-5 used one leg to kick the cuffs off but before his foot made contact, the cuffs fell to pieces and so did the hammer. The small cubes flew through the air and then reassembled into the form of a huge round ball. The ball fell towards 4-0-5 who got out of the way by leaping to the side like a goalie trying to catch a soccer ball heading far to the side. The ball crashed hard into the ground and began to roll towards 4-0-5 who quickly got back onto his feet and began running with the ball following close behind.

4-0-5 ran along the edge of the arena as 5-2-5 followed close behind, rolling like a huge ball from "Raiders of the Lost Ark." As he ran, 4-0-5 was hoping for a chance to push 5-2-5 out of the arena but 5-2-5 was following him at such a fast speed that he couldn't find an opportunity to do so without getting run over. From all the damage the arena has taken, the ground was cracked and covered in pieces of concrete. One of the cracks that was on the stage was in 4-0-5's way and he tripped on the crack, landing hard face-first into the ground and with 5-2-5 not too far away. People in the audience were screaming for 4-0-5 to get up although he didn't need a warning. Remembering that he was being chased by 5-2-5, 4-0-5 rolled over to the side, just barely missing the ball as it rolled past him.

While on the ground, 4-0-5 swung his claws towards 5-2-5 who broke into pieces and avoided damage. The pieces immediately flew behind 4-0-5 and then reassembled into the form of a boot. The boot then kicked 4-0-5 hard into his back, knocking him forwards as he attempted to get back up. 5-2-5 kicked 4-0-5 again, knocking him further towards the edge of the arena. 5-2-5 was about to kick 4-0-5 again when 4-0-5 extended his claws and slashed at 5-2-5 but the boot came to pieces, causing the metal claws to pass harmlessly between them. Wanting to get further from the arena's edge, 4-0-5 began running but before he could get far, some of 5-2-5's cubes reassembled into the shape of a cane that was used to trip 4-0-5. 4-0-5 managed to regain his balance in order to prevent himself from falling over but as he did, the remaining pieces of 5-2-5 reassembled into a hammer which was used to strike 4-0-5 hard in the head.

The audience gasped in shock as they watched 4-0-5 standing there dazed by the blow. The hammer then came down again but this time, 4-0-5 was struck in the abdomen. 4-0-5 raised one of his claws to strike but then the cane struck 4-0-5 in the wrist which hurt a lot. 4-0-5 had a dilemma because now he was fighting both a cane and a hammer and to make matters worse, the hammer broke to pieces and the pieces divided and formed the shape of a smaller hammer as well as a base ball bat. The cane, the hammer, and the baseball bat that 5-2-5 changed into began pounding at 4-0-5. Every time 4-0-5 tried to strike one of the weapons, the other two would strike at once. 4-0-5 tried desperately to defend himself but with all three weapons at once, he could only handle no more than two at a time while the third continued to pound him.

5-6-4 was at the edge of her said as 4-0-5 was being pounded by the array of weaponry that 5-2-5 had changed into. After taking such a beating, 4-0-5 was beginning to grow tired and he was also showing signs of bruising. He swung two of his arms towards the hammer but then the cane struck him in the knee followed by a good blow to the back by the baseball bat. 4-0-5 swung his two right arms while keeping his left arms in the air in a vain attempt to block the hammer if it attacked. The swing against the cane and bat was a terrible miss since the weapons easily separated in two in order to avoid any damage. As for the hammer, instead of striking from above—where 4-0-5's claws were held—the hammer instead struck 4-0-5 in the abdomen. 4-0-5 clutched his gut in pain. The cane then swung down and knocked 4-0-5 off his feet. He landed face down upon the hard concrete floor. Before he could get up, the hammer struck him again in the head, followed by several blows by the cane and bat.

The three weapons continued to pound 4-0-5 as he lied on the ground helplessly. After one final blow to the head by the hammer, the three weapons flew into the air and then dissembled and reassembled into 5-2-5's standard form. 5-2-5 stood a few feet away from 4-0-5, grinning down upon him. 4-0-5 just laid there on the ground, not moving. Seeing 4-0-5 lying there on the ground made 5-6-4 put a hand to her mouth and say, "no, please no" as tears began to form in her eyes. Experiments in the stadium were shouting out to 4-0-5, desperately trying to talk him into getting back onto his feet.

"This is not good," said 6-2-5. "If he doesn't get up within the next ten seconds, 5-2-5 will be victorious." All of 4-0-5's newly acquired fans were on the edge of their seats as the referee began counting….

"One, two, three…" counted the referee. 5-6-4 fought desperately not to use her telepathy to coax 4-0-5 to get up. She felt so helpless as she watched her friend lying on the ground, seconds away from being kicked out of the fight. Meanwhile, 5-2-5 was standing near 4-0-5, taunting him.

"I told you had no chance," said 5-2-5. "You're just a pathetic weakling. A failed experiment that should never had been born." 4-0-5 was barely conscious as he heard 5-2-5 talk but his words, none the less, struck a nerve in 4-0-5. Memories of 5-2-5's constant abuse and abuse from other experiments filled 4-0-5's mind as anger rose in him. Once the referee counted "six," all those memories caused 4-0-5 to snap back into consciousness but what motivated him to get up was his promise he made to 5-6-4 and 6-1-9 to not let 5-2-5 win.

By the time the referee had reached the count of "eight," 4-0-5 unsteadily climbed back onto his feet. The audience cheered for 4-0-5 which drowned out the sound of many sighs of relief from the audience, especially from 5-6-4 who collapsed in her seat with relief.

"Amazing, 4-0-5 has got back up," said 6-2-5 although he sounded out of breath as if he had held his breath the whole time. 5-2-5 didn't seem very surprised, however.

"You're certainly very stubborn," said 5-2-5. "No matter. I'll pound it out of you." 4-0-5 wanted to say something in response but a comeback line failed to come to him. He was tired and he still was no closer to defeating 5-2-5.

4-0-5 extended his claws but before he could use them, 5-2-5 disassembled into pieces and then reassembled into the shape of a fist. Wanting to catch 5-2-5 off guard, 4-0-5 lunged towards 5-2-5 who split in half to allow 4-0-5's claws to pass between the two halves. The halves reconnected and then the huge hand slapped 4-0-5 beside his head. 4-0-5 was knocked over but he quickly recovered in time to get back onto his feet. 5-2-5 had reassembled into his standard form and just stood there looking a bit annoyed.

"Ho-hum, this is getting boring," He said. "I think I'll finish you off now." 5-2-5 broke into pieces and the pieces flew through the air like a swarm of bees and then made a beeline towards 4-0-5. 4-0-5 quickly leaped over the cubes in order to avoid them but when he jumped over the cubes, the cubes immediately changed direction and before 4-0-5 knew it, the cubes had him surrounded.

Some of the cubes assembled into handcuffs which bounded 4-0-5's four hands. The handcuffs forced 4-0-5 onto his back and his arms flat against the ground. Some more cubes formed cuffs in order to bind his legs while the remaining cubes came together into the form of a large boulder. The boulder flew into the air and hovered over 4-0-5. 4-0-5's heart was bounded in fright, knowing what was going to happen next. The huge sphere came falling down upon 4-0-5's chest, knocking the wind out of him. The ball then lifted into the air and then pounded 4-0-5 again in the chest.

Once again, the audience was on the edge of their seats as they watched 4-0-5 taking a beating. 4-0-5 was helpless to resist as he was bludgeoned by 5-2-5. The boulder came crashing down upon 4-0-5 once again but this time, 5-2-5 was applying pressure to 4-0-5's chest, making it hard for him to breath. Panic was beginning to grow inside him as he gasped for air. Being in such a helpless position caused 4-0-5 to enter a flight or fight reflex. He became completely panicked yet there was nothing he could do to escape. At this point, instinct took over and, as part of his genetic programming, 4-0-5 instinctively activated a distempered magnetic field. A field of energy expanded from 4-0-5 like a big green bubble and when the field was created, a miracle happened.

When 5-2-5 was surrounded by this energy field, the cubes immediately fell to pieces and just flew through the air in random directions. With the pressure off his chest, 4-0-5 took in a deep breath before staring up at the cubes over head. 5-2-5 struggled to get his cubes together again but for some reason, the magnetic energy of the field was keeping the cubes from connecting together. Realizing that something was wrong, 5-2-5's cubes managed to fly out of the distempered magnetic field and then reassembled back into 5-2-5's natural form, a look of shock was on his face.

"What just happened?" asked 5-2-5 to himself. 4-0-5 was also surprised. He had deactivated his distempered magnetism field, wondering what had just happened.

Wanting to go for another attack, 5-2-5 reassembled into the shape of a missile and then flew towards 4-0-5. Seeing 5-2-5 coming, 4-0-5 raised his distempered magnetic field again and when 5-2-5 crossed into the boundaries of the field, the cubes immediately came a part. 4-0-5 watched in amazement as 5-2-5 came apart and all the little pieces that made up his body just flew haphazardly around 4-0-5 like a blind swarm of flies. The cubes flew out of the field and once again came together to form 5-2-5's natural form. He was baffled.

"How is this possible?" he demanded. "I can't control my cubes while I'm within your distempered magnetic field. How is this possible?"

For a while, the two experiments just stood there, thinking about what had just happened. Even the audience were silently wondering, out of confusion, of what they had just witnessed. However, it was 4-0-5 who figured it out. As he thought about the day he visited Jumba's office to talk Jumba into letting him take the entry test, he remembered something that Jumba had said to him about 5-2-5. He said, "The hundreds of tiny cubes that make up the structure of his body use powerful magnetic energies to enable 5-2-5 total control over them and shape himself into any form he wants." When 4-0-5 remembered that 5-2-5 uses magnetism to control his cubes, 4-0-5 suddenly realized what must have happened.

"I think I may know what is going on here?" said 4-0-5 to 5-2-5. "My powers were intended to create a magnetic energy that can disrupt machines and radio signals but my powers weren't working right because the energy was producing a different and more weaker version of an actual distempered magnetic field. However, Jumba also told me that you can control your cubes through magnetic energy. If that's the case then that means that somehow, my magnetism can disrupt your magnetism."

"Intriguing," said Jumba from his seat not too far away. "4-0-5 is right. Both experiments were created with similar programming and technology. 4-0-5's distempered magnetism is at an entirely different frequency than regular distempered magnetism but perhaps it's possible that 4-0-5's distempered magnetism might have the exact opposite frequency as my later magnetic experiments. If this is true then 4-0-5 can disrupt 5-2-5's magnetic energy. I can't believe I never thought of that sooner. I'm having an off day for geniusing."

With this stunning revelation discovered, all at once the tables had finally turn in 4-0-5's favor. 5-2-5 was not happy, however.

"Hold on," he shouted to Jumba. "This is not fair. He has an unfair advantage over me and must be disqualified."

"I'm afraid 4-0-5 has done nothing wrong," said Jumba. "You see, according to the rules, an experiment is aloud to use any powers he was born with. Since 4-0-5 has always had this power, he can use it." A look of horror was on 5-2-5's face as he looked at 4-0-5's quirky grin.

"Well, well, looks like you're no longer the hot shot in the Experiment Tournament," said 4-0-5. "How does it feel to be so helpless?"

"You think you have me where you want me, do you?" asked 5-2-5 slyly. "You may be able to escape my attacks but you wont be able to beat me without an offensive ability."

"Not unless I suppress your powers with a strike from my energy balls," said 4-0-5. 4-0-5 held up his hand and in between his palms, he began to create a large glowing green sphere which expanded to the size of a base ball. 4-0-5 threw the ball towards 5-2-5. If it strikes 5-2-5, its energy would completely penetrate his body and disable 5-2-5's ability to move his cubes for ten minutes. Realizing that he was in danger, 5-2-5 disassembled into pieces and the ball just flew through the swarm of cubes.

With the fight becoming more intense, 5-2-5 was beginning to become desperate. He reassembled into two separate rockets that began to fly around the arena. 4-0-5 conjured some energy balls from his hands and fired them at 5-2-5. Since there were two targets to shoot at, 4-0-5 was having difficulties driving them both back with his powers. 5-2-5's plan was to distract 4-0-5 while coming up from behind for as sneak attack. As 4-0-5 concentrated on one of the rockets, another one was heading right behind him. Luckily, 4-0-5 anticipated an attack from behind so he conjured a distempered magnetism field and when 5-2-5's rocket hit the field, it fell to pieces and the small cubes flew around within the field, unable to maintain their shape.

The cubes managed to fly out of 4-0-5's distempered magnetism field and they reassembled into the shape of a hammer. The hammer flew towards 4-0-5 but 4-0-5 fired another energy ball at 5-2-5. 5-2-5 disassembled and the ball flew past the cubes. Before he could reassemble again, 4-0-5 fired more energy balls at him. 5-2-5 quickly dodged his cubes away from the energy balls. The cubes flew towards the ground and then reassembled into 5-2-5's standard form.

The two just stood there, staring each other down. 5-2-5 was growing more panicked with every passing minute while 4-0-5 remained on the alert. He had the upper hand but he didn't want to get cocky.

"I'm getting sick of this," said 5-2-5.

"Would you rather just give up now and save yourself the humiliation?" asked 4-0-5.

"I don't think so," said 5-2-5. The cubes that made up 5-2-5's body came to pieces and flew through the air. 4-0-5 fired more energy balls at the cubes but 5-2-5 maneuvered his cubes to avoid the attacks. Instead of coming together to form a shape, the cubes flew around the arena like a swarm of bees. 4-0-5, continued to fire more of his energy balls at 5-2-5 but the cubes kept avoiding them. The swarm of cubes made a sharp turn towards 4-0-5 and as he fired more of his distempered magnetism balls, the more the cubes split apart to avoid the attacks. The cubes were moving so fast and 4-0-5 was so focused on hitting the cubes that he forgot to raise his energy field by the time the cubes reached him. With that mistake, 5-2-5 seized his chance.

The cubes flew past 4-0-5 and the cubes quickly reassembled into the shape of a disembodied hand. The hand then grabbed 4-0-5 by the back of his neck by its thumb and index finger.

"Hey, what the…" said 4-0-5 in surprise. Before he knew it, he was lifted off the ground like a rag doll. The audience gasped in shock as 4-0-5 was lifted high above the ground. Before 4-0-5 could fire an energy ball or raise a distempered magnetism field, he was raised too high off the ground for a safe landing. 5-6-4 watched in horror as 4-0-5 was lifted high above her head. The two now were dangling over three stories off the ground. A fall from this height could cause a crippling injury.

"Oh no, 4-0-5 is in trouble," said 6-2-5. "This is not going to end well."

As 4-0-5 dangled helplessly by the skin on the back of his neck, he frantically thought of how to get out of this situation but it wasn't looking good. If he disabled 5-2-5 now with his distempered magnetism, both 4-0-5 and 5-2-5 would plummet to their deaths and if he didn't, 5-2-5 would just drop him.

"You've been a thorn in my side long enough," said 5-2-5's voice from an unknown origin. "No one will take my victory away so have a nice fall." Listening to 5-2-5's word brought back memories of the promises 4-0-5 had made to 6-1-9 and 5-6-4. Remembering how important the promises were, he knew the sacrifice he had to make.

"Well, 5-2-5, if I go down, I'm taking you with me," said 4-0-5. He began to generate an energy ball between his hands. Realizing what 4-0-5 was doing, 5-2-5 let go of 4-0-5. As 4-0-5 began to fall, he fired his energy ball. With the advantage of a shot from within close range, the energy ball struck 5-2-5 before he saw it coming. The ball's energy surrounded and penetrated each and every cube in 4-0-5's distempered magnetism. The cubes, now fully affected by the magnetism, could no longer function so the entire hand fell towards the ground with 4-0-5.

There was a collective gasp from the audience as they watched the two experiments fall towards the ground. 4-0-5 used his agility to ensure that he landed on his feet but he was too high off the ground for a safe landing. When he landed onto the ground, there was loud crack followed by a scream of pain as 4-0-5 toppled over. Both his ankles were broken and his knees hurt really bad. He laid on the ground, moaning in pain.

Shortly after 4-0-5 hit the ground, 5-2-5 hit the ground and shattered into pieces. A stunned silence filed the stadium, shocked at what they had just witnessed. 4-0-5, barring the pain with clenched teeth and tears running down his face, he struggled to get into a sitting position so he could see 5-2-5. 5-2-5, who was unable to control his cubes, just laid there in pieces. The cubes were scattered everywhere, all of them twitching as if 5-2-5 was trying to get back up. At that point, the referee stepped in and began counting.

"One, two, three…" counted the referee. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they watched the small cubes twitching, wanting to see if 5-2-5 was going to get back up.

"…four, five, six…"

"Come on, stay down," said 4-0-5, his eyes glued toward 5-2-5.

"…seven, eight…" Everyone held their breaths as the last two numbers were counted.

"…nine, ten. 4-0-5 is the winner." With that announcement heard, the audience cheered with joy. Barely audible over the noise, 6-2-5 said, "I don't believe it. 4-0-5 has bested last year's raining champion. Move over, 5-2-5, because our new winner is 4-0-5." 6-2-5 was so excited that he was hopping up and down in his seat to the point tat he actually fell over, crashing down upon the hard floor.

"Oh you clumsy oaf," said 2-9-7.

Meanwhile, 4-0-5 turned around in his sitting position to look at 5-6-4 in the audience. She looked just as excited as he was.

"You did it, I'm so proud of you," said 5-6-4's telepathic voice. 4-0-5 just smiled in response as paramedics picked him up and placed him on a stretcher. The while, he thought to himself, "I did it. I really did it."

That night, after 4-0-5's legs had been completely healed by 5-3-3, there was a party held at the stadium's infirmary in 4-0-5's honor. The infirmary, as well as the halls and other neighboring rooms, were crowded with experiments. Half of the experiment population had come and were celebrating 4-0-5's victory with music, sodas, and lots of food. There were so many experiments horse playing at the party that it looked more like a college frat party but without the drunks. As the party continued, 4-0-5 felt insecure because of all the experiments around him. Never in his life has he ever received so much attention. Instead of having 5-2-5 surrounded by women, it was 4-0-5's turn. All the female experiments were surrounding him like a celebrity. 4-0-5 found himself pressed against the wall with female experiments surrounding him in all directions, pestering him with question and comments.

"You were amazing out there," said 0-4-9 (Nurse).

"You truly are a masterful opponent," said 5-2-8 (Tornadra).

"I admit, you're better than I thought," said 3-4-9 (Bonnie).

"Are you going to invite us to dinner?" asked 6-2-4 (Angel).

"Please, one at a time," said 4-0-5 frantically looking for a way out of the crowd.

"Can I see your medallion?" asked a blue colored gymnastics experiment named 1-3-5.

"Yes, can we see your medallion?" chorused the experiments.

"Okay," said 4-0-5 wearily and he held up the gold colored medallion that he wore around his neck so the ladies could see it. The medallion was tied with a dark blue ribbon and on the medallion it read:

_Experiment 4-0-5_

_The official winner and champion_

_of Jumba's fifth annual_

_Experiment Tournament_

Without warning, Experiment 1-3-5 grabbed 4-0-5's medallion, forcing 4-0-5 forwards and choking him a bit.

"Wow, it's so beautiful," said 1-3-5.

"Let me see," said 4-8-2 (Replica) as she grabbed 4-0-5's medallion, forcing 4-0-5 in a different direction. Finding it hard to breath, 4-0-5 forced the medallion out of 4-8-2's grasp. By this point, the girls were so desperate to get a closer look at 4-0-5's medallion that they began to swarm at him. Wanting to escape, 4-0-5 immediately attached his feet and hands to the wall and began to climb it. Like Spider-Man, he climbed up the walls and along the ceiling as the other females begged for him to come back.

Wanting to get some fresh air, 4-0-5 walked along the ceiling and headed towards the entrance intended for the combatants. He dropped from the ceiling and exited the building. The night was quite when 4-0-5 stepped outside. The moon experiment hovered high overhead, casting her soft white glow upon the city. 4-0-5 walked around the stadium towards the front and there, sitting on a bench at a bus stop, was 5-6-4. Even in the dim light and at several yards away, 4-0-5 could see her on the bench. Curious, he walked along the concrete path infront of the stadium and sat down next to her on the bench. 5-6-4 looked up at him as he sat down and smiled.

"What are you doing here?" asked 4-0-5.

"The same reason you're doing here," she answered. 4-0-5 was about to ask how did she know but, remembering her mind reading powers, he didn't ask.

The two sat on that bench, facing each other in silence, thinking of what to say to each other. 5-6-4 was the one to break the silence when she said, "That medallion looks good on you."

"Thanks," said 4-0-5 as he held his medallion to look at it.

"I'm glad you won," said 5-6-4. "I can't think of anyone else who deserves that medallion around his neck." 4-0-5 smiled with pride. He really did deserve it.

"Not to mention you really showed 5-2-5," said 5-6-4. "He was so embarrassed about the defeat that no one has seen him since the end of the tournament. He's probably just hiding in his apartment." 4-0-5 and 5-6-4 laughed at the thought.

It was at this point when 5-6-4 said to him, "You know, I overheard the fight you had with 5-2-5 in the infirmary and I couldn't help but notice that when you defended me, you told 5-2-5 that I was pretty and smart but you didn't deny that I was your boochi-boo." 4-0-5 fell silent when he realized what she was implying. His face turned red with nervousness. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could, 5-6-4 said, "It's okay. I've always known."

"Really?" asked 4-0-5 in surprise.

"Yeah, it's like what you said back at the restaurant: 'it's hard to keep secrets when your best friend is a telepath.'" 4-0-5 laughed at the idea of hearing his own words coming back to haunt him.

"I figured you would have known but I just wasn't sure if you felt the same way about me," said 4-0-5. 5-6-4 leaned towards 4-0-5 and said, "What do you think?" With that, 5-6-4 began affectionately licking the bridge of 4-0-5's nose.

4-0-5 didn't resist as 5-6-4 licked him and it wasn't long before 4-0-5 was returning the gesture by licking 5-6-4's nose. Afterwards, the two just sat there and stared into each other's eyes, losing themselves in the each other's black eye balls. Just like on 4-0-5's windowsill, the moonlight shined upon 5-6-4, causing her lavender colored fur to glow radiantly. To 4-0-5, she shinned like a goddess. It was on that day on that bench when the two experiments were finally aware that they were struck by Cupid's arrow and the two held hands, enjoying the company of each other.

As 4-0-5 stared at 5-6-4's beauty in the moonlight, he realized he couldn't hide his feeling for her any longer. Almost subconsciously, he wrapped his arms around her and she did the same for him. With nothing more than 4-0-5's medallion between them, the two experiments leaned forwards and locked lips to partake in their first kiss. In this embrace between two lovers, they felt a sense of joy and excitement like nothing they had ever felt before. They were truly meant to be together and this kiss proved it all. Now that their love for each other was confessed, the two held hands as they walked back to the infirmary to join the party but before they left the bench, they said to each other, "I love you, boochi-boo."

**The End**

Author's Note: Experiment 1-3-5 is a character created by Mareo and Anime.


End file.
